Conveyor transfer guards

ABSTRACT

In one aspect, a transfer guard member having a body for being positioned in a gap intermediate conveying surfaces, an upper portion of the body for spanning the gap and outer portions of the upper body for slidingly engaging the conveying surfaces, and a pair of spaced, resilient legs having distal end portions for resiliently and slidingly engaging the conveying surfaces. In another aspect, a transfer guard member having a body and at least one attachment member of the body configured for being detachably fixed to a mounting bar. The body has at least one recess adjacent the attachment member for receiving at least one attachment member of another transfer guard member fixed to the mounting bar so that upper transfer surfaces of the attachment members are adjacent one another.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/483,588, filed Apr. 10, 2017, and U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 62/503,118, filed May 8, 2017, which are each hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an apparatus for bridging a gap in a conveyorsystem or between conveyor systems.

BACKGROUND

Transfer guards have been used to provide a smooth transition to supportobjects traveling across a gap between two conveyor surfaces, such astwo pulleys of separate belts, and to prevent objects from falling intothe gap. One known transfer guard was formed from a single sheet of UHMW(ultra high molecular weight) polyethylene material with a rectangularcross section having beveled edges that is rigidly attached to a barsupport that is welded or fastened to the side of the conveyor structureand positioned in the gap. Because the length and width of a gap willvary depending on the width of the conveyor belt and the conveyor systemconfiguration, the above described transfer guard generally had to becustom fabricated on site to ensure proper dimensions. In addition,because a single sheet of polyethylene material is used, if one portionof the sheet is damaged, the whole sheet must be replaced. In addition,because the guard is rigidly attached to the conveyor system, if anobject becomes stuck between the guard and the conveyor system, there isno way to release the guard to prevent damage to the conveyor system.

Another known transfer guard takes the form of a transfer plate usingone or more roller bars or wheels arranged in one or more successivelaterally arranged rows. These systems require a rigid support structureat the sides or underneath the transfer plate to be mounted in theproper location. Such known roller systems are not configured break awayor otherwise absorb impacts from objects or belt splices.

One problem resides in the tolerance provided between theabove-described transfer guard and the adjacent moving belt surface,which can allow small debris to become lodged between the transfer guardand the belt surface causing damage to the belt as the moving beltsurface continuously rubs against the trapped debris. To address thisproblem, break-away transfer devices are known. With the above-describeddevice, lag bolts were utilized to releasably mount a bar transfer guardto the support plate members or stringers of the conveyor framestructure of the conveyor system. The lag bolts would shear undersufficient force so the transfer guard bar would break away to avoidbelt damage.

One drawback of the above-described break-away transfer guard and othertransfer devices, such as the device disclosed in U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2007/0023257 to Schiesser, is the manner inwhich the devices are mounted to break away during conveyor operations.Transfer devices that have their break-away mountings at the sidesupport plate members or stringers of the conveyor system require thatthe longitudinally directed forces on the transfer device be redirectedand transmitted through the device laterally to the remote break-awaymountings. One drawback with these break-away transfer guards is that inthe event that the transfer guard breaks away, the transfer guardcompletely loses functionality requiring replacement of the entiretransfer guard.

In one transfer device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,548,996 to Ellis, acomplex series of narrow relief plates are individually removablyattached by magnets to corresponding individual slidable mounting blockshaving shafts that allow longitudinal movement in the direction of belttravel. The mounting blocks are mounted to a dead plate conveyor, whichis stationary and relies upon vibration to move articles, such asglassware. Accordingly, the transfer device disclosed in Ellis appearsto be limited to applications where a moving conveying surface isadjacent to a stationary conveying surface having sufficient supportstructure to which the transfer device may be fixedly mounted.

A transfer guard system comprised of multiple members positionedside-by-side and releasably attached to a support bar for spanning a gapbetween conveyor systems is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,365,899 toMcKee. Each member is sized to span the entire longitudinal distance ofthe gap between the adjacent conveying surfaces in the product traveldirection and include a pair of depending legs that are releasablymounted to a support bar. Because each member is sized to longitudinallyspan the entire gap, and gap sizes may vary considerably, differentsized members must be made for each gap having a different size.

Another problem encountered in some conveyor applications is that thedistance between conveying surfaces in the downstream, longitudinaldirection is relatively small. It may be difficult to both position atransfer plate in the gap and secure the transfer plate to the frame ofthe conveyor or other structures due to the close proximity of theconveying surfaces.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a transfer guardmember is provided having a body for being positioned in a gapintermediate conveying surfaces. The body has an upper portion forspanning a gap between adjacent conveying surfaces, such as a singleconveyor belt or adjacent belts, pulleys, rollers, and the like. Thebody has outer portions of the upper body portion for slidingly engagingthe conveying surfaces. The body has a pair of spaced, resilient legshaving distal end portions for resiliently and slidingly engaging theconveying surfaces. The legs have outer curved surfaces spaced from theconveying surfaces and separating the outer portions of the upper bodyportion and the distal end portions of the legs along the conveyingsurfaces to permit movement of the legs in the gap. The resilient legspermit the upper body portion to have a controlled range of motionwithin the gap to accommodate variations in the conveying surfaces,contact from conveyed objects, and other loading while maintainingsliding engagement with the conveying surfaces during normal operations.Further, the outer portions of the upper body portion and the distal endportions of the spaced legs slidingly engage the conveying surfaces andmaintain the transfer guard member in the gap such that the transferguard member may be installed in the gap without requiring additionalstructure to maintain the transfer guard member in the gap. This enablesa user to easily and quickly install one or more transfer guard membersin the gap intermediate the conveying surfaces.

In one form, the body includes an intermediate stop portion spaced fromone of the conveying surfaces for being shifted into engagement with theone conveying surface when the body upper portion shifts toward the oneconveying surface. The upper body portion may shift toward the oneconveying surface, for example, in response to a high wedge force beingapplied against an upstream one of the outer portions of the upper bodyportion. This permits the upstream outer portion to shift out of thepath of an object, such as an imperfection in the upstream conveyingsurface, applying the high wedge force until the object can travelbeyond the upstream outer portion. The intermediate stop portioncontrols the amount of movement of the upper body portion permittedwithin the gap that occurs when a high wedge force is applied to theupper body portion. If the amount of movement of the upper body portionrequired to compensate for the high wedge force is beyond apredetermined position, the stop portion may operate with one of theconveying surfaces to eject the transfer guard member from the gap.

In accordance with another aspect, a transfer guard member is providedhaving a body for being positioned in a laterally extending gap betweenconveying surfaces. The body has at least one attachment memberconfigured for being detachably fixed to a mounting bar and having anupper transfer surface. An outboard portion of the body extendslongitudinally outward from the attachment member has an edge for beingpositioned at one of the conveying surfaces. The body has at least onerecess adjacent the attachment member for receiving at least oneattachment member of another transfer guard member fixed to the mountingbar so that the upper transfer surfaces of the attachment members areadjacent one another. A lateral width of the outboard portion is greaterthan a lateral width of the attachment member due to the at least onerecess adjacent the at least one attachment member. In this manner, theupper transfer surfaces can support an item traveling over the transferguard members and keep the item away from a seam or gap between thetransfer guard members.

In one form, the at least one recess of the body extends laterally fromthe at least one attachment member. This permits the upper transfersurfaces to be laterally aligned with the transfer guard members fixedto the mounting bar. The lateral alignment supports an item travelinglongitudinally along the transfer guard members and keeps the item frombecoming lodged in the gap between the transfer guard members.

The body may also include at least one protrusion extendinglongitudinally outward from the attachment member. The least oneprotrusion is configured to interfere with the other transfer guardmember fixed to the mounting bar and tightly engage the transfer guardmembers together on the mounting bar. The interference between thetransfer guard members creates a clash therebetween and urges thetransfer guard members apart. This clash ensures that the transfer guardmembers have a tight fit on the mounting bar which minimizes the gaptherebetween and reduces the likelihood of an item becoming caught inthe interface between the transfer guard members. In one form, the atleast one protrusion extends outward from the attachment member adjacentthe upper transfer surface and interferes with the other transfer guardmember adjacent the upper transfer surface thereof. In this manner,there is a tight fit between the transfer guard members at the uppertransfer surfaces thereof which minimizes the gap between the transferguard members adjacent the upper transfer surfaces which, in turn,reduces the likelihood of conveyed items becoming caught in the gap.

A transfer guard system is also provided having a mounting bar forextending laterally in a gap intermediate two conveying surfaces and aplurality of longitudinally aligned pairs of upstream and downstreamtransfer guard members for transferring objects in a longitudinal,downstream direction between the two conveying surfaces. Each pair ofupstream and downstream transfer guard members have attachment membersconfigured for detachably fixing the pair of upstream and downstreamtransfer guard members to the mounting bar. By utilizing longitudinallyaligned pairs of upstream and downstream transfer guard members, ahigh-force impact that detaches an upstream transfer guard member mayleave the downstream guard member in place and fixed to the mountingbar. In this manner, the downstream transfer guard member provides sometransfer functionality despite the upstream transfer guard having beendetached from the mounting bar.

The transfer guard system having pairs of upstream and downstreamtransfer guard members also provides improved flexibility for installingthe transfer guard system. For example, at least one of the pairs ofupstream and downstream transfer guard members may include upstream anddownstream transfer guard members having different longitudinal lengths.This permits the mounting bar to be mounted off center between conveyingsurfaces which may be required by the surrounding structures, such aswelds or supports of the conveyor system. Further, the plurality ofaligned pairs of upstream and downstream transfer guard members mayinclude a first pair of upstream and downstream members having a firstlongitudinal length and a second pair of upstream and downstream membershaving a second longitudinal length different than the firstlongitudinal length. By having pairs of upstream and downstream memberswith different longitudinal lengths, the transfer guard members may beindividually tailored to a particular conveying system without needingto cut the transfer guard members to length as in some prior approaches.Further, the different length pairs of the upstream and downstreamtransfer guard members may permit the transfer guard system to transferobjects across gaps that vary in size such as due to turns in theconveyor belt system.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, atransfer guard system is provided for conveying objects across a gapintermediate two conveying surfaces and bounded by a pair of guidesurfaces that extend longitudinally along opposite lateral sides of theconveying surfaces. The transfer guard system includes a mounting barfor extending laterally in the gap between the pair of guide surfacesand at least one transfer guard member for being detachably connected tothe mounting bar. The system further includes at least one mount forsupporting the mounting bar in the gap. The at least one mount includesa base portion for being fixed to one of the guide surfaces and asupport portion disposed laterally inward from the base portion. Themount support portion permits the mounting bar to be lowered into thegap between the conveying surfaces and the guide surfaces and beconnected to the support portion. This top-loading operability isadvantageous in confined installation environments where the gap isbounded on its sides by the conveying surfaces and the guide surfacesand below by support structure of the conveying surfaces. For example, aconveyor may have skirts on opposite lateral sides of the conveyorsurfaces and the skirts may have welds or thick reinforcement memberstheir outer surfaces so that a user may be unable to drill holes in theskirts to mount a bracket for a mounting bar to the skirts. The transferguard system overcomes this shortcoming and permits a user to fix thebase portions of a pair of the mounts to the skirt guide surfaces, suchas by welding, and then lower the mounting bar into the gap and connectthe mounting bar to the mounts fixed to the skirt guide surfaces. Thus,the transfer guard system provides improved ease of installation despitespace constrictions around the gap.

In another form, the transfer guard system includes multiple transferguard segments or members having upper transfer surfaces for beingpositioned laterally side-by-side and longitudinally end-to-end along agap in a belt conveying surface or between two conveying surfaces. Oneadvantage of the end-to-end mounting of the transfer guard members isthat it allows the user to customize the transfer guard system for usein various different size gaps between conveying surfaces, as well as toaccommodate various types and configurations of conveying surfaces. Forexample, a large range of gap sizes between conveying surfaces may bespanned with only a few differently sized members. In addition, thetransfer guard members may be mounted to an elongated mounting member ina plurality of different locations in the gap, particularly when twodifferently sized transfer guard members are used to span the gap oneither side of the elongate mounting member. This allows for greaterflexibility for mounting the transfer guard system in a wide range ofconveyor system configurations.

The elongate mounting member extends laterally across the width of theconveyor system and has the transfer guard members releasably mountedthereto. The mounting member is positioned in the gap between conveyingsurfaces so that the mounting member is generally below the transferguard members, and specifically the upper surfaces thereof. The transferguard members and lower mounting member have lower detachableconnections therebetween. In this manner, the transfer guard members candetach from the mounting member should debris get jammed between one ofthe transfer guard members and the conveying surface with enough forceto dislodge the transfer guard member from the mounting member byreleasing the detachable connection therebetween. If debris is jammed inbetween a transfer guard member and the adjacent conveying surface,other conveyed items may impact against the stuck debris or a liftedupstream edge of the transfer guard member with enough force to releasethe detachable connection and dislodge the transfer guard member. In theevent of a sufficiently high impact wedge force that tends to generatean upward lifting force on the transfer guard member, the location ofthe detachable connection proximate to and generally immediately belowthe location of the impact will better ensure that the detachableconnection is released so that the conveying surface is not damaged byjammed debris.

The upper surfaces of the transfer guard members are sized in alongitudinal conveyor or product travel direction to each span a portionof the gap so that when an appropriately sized pair of upstream anddownstream transfer guard members are installed a receiving edge of theupstream transfer guard upper surface is closely positioned to theupstream conveying surface and a discharge edge of a downstream transferguard member is closely positioned to the downstream conveying surface.To this end, the detachable connections provided between the transferguard members and lower mounting member are configured to fix the uppersurfaces, including the upstream receiving and downstream dischargeedges thereof, against longitudinal shifting in the conveyor or producttravel direction prior to the detachment of the transfer guard membersso that debris does not accumulate in the gap under the transfer guardmembers during normal conveyor operations.

Each transfer guard member may include two pairs of spaced-apart legsgenerally projecting downward from a transfer guard upper bridge portionon which the upper transfer surface is formed. The pairs of opposinglegs may be laterally offset so that the side surfaces of the transferguard members are aligned when mounted on a mounting member end-to-end.This offset configuration allows the transfer guard members to bemounted on the same mounting member end-to-end with the one of the pairsof legs of one of the end-to-end transfer guard members disposed betweenthe pairs of legs of the other transfer guard member in a configurationresembling the interlocking teeth of a zipper. Such an offsetconfiguration allows the spaced-apart legs for each transfer guardmember have an identical size and configuration. Alternatively, thepairs of opposing legs could be configured such that the side surfacesof the transfer guard members are not aligned when the members aremounted end-to-end. Further, the transfer guard member couldalternatively have a single pair of opposing legs.

The pairs of opposing legs may be spaced apart such that one of thepairs of spaced-apart legs of a longitudinally adjacent transfer guardmember may interdigitate or nest in between the two pairs of legs of theother longitudinally adjacent transfer guard member to provide asubstantially uninterrupted upper transfer surface spanning the gapbetween upstream and downstream conveying surfaces. The legs are spacedapart from one another to tightly fit the mounting member therebetween,and the legs may be formed to be resiliently flexible for being snap fitonto the mounting member. The pairs of legs each include an upstream legand a downstream leg. The upstream and downstream legs extend laterallyand are spaced longitudinally from each other in the belt traveldirection so that the upstream leg bears tightly against the mountingbar keeping the transfer guard members fixed against longitudinalshifting in the downstream direction as products are conveyed over theupper surfaces thereof. However, when debris gets lodged between theupstream, receiving edge of one of the transfer guard members and theconveying surface, the resilient legs can resiliently deform to allowthe transfer guard member to detach from the mounting bar before theconveying surface is damaged by the stuck debris.

The transfer guard members may be formed from a material presenting asurface with good abrasion resistance and a low coefficient of frictionsuch as UHMW polyethylene, or the like. For transfer guard members thatuse a mounting member, the mounting member may be formed of a metal orlike material providing high strength and durability.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a transferguard member is provided that includes a unitary, one-piece body forbeing positioned in a gap longitudinally between conveying surfaces. Thebody includes an upper transfer surface and a pair of lower resilientlegs adapted to be directly detachably fixed to a mounting member. Theupper transfer surface includes a plurality of protrusions arranged tocontact an object being transferred across the upper transfer surface.Because the object contacts the protrusions, the object contacts asmaller surface area of the transfer guard member than if the objectwere contacting a large planar upper surface of a transfer guard member.This reduces dynamic friction between the transfer guard member and theobject. Reducing the dynamic friction reduces the frequency of objectsgetting slowed by the upper surface of the transfer guard member whichcan adversely affect object flow and spacing throughout an entireconveyor system.

In one form, the upper transfer surface includes an outer periphery andportions of protrusions at or adjacent the outer periphery. The portionsof protrusions form protrusions with portions of protrusions of othertransfer guard members when the transfer guard members are fixed to themounting member. In this manner, the portions of the protrusionscooperate to form protrusions at a seam between the transfer guardmembers that keep an object from becoming caught in the seam between thetransfer guard members.

The present invention also provides a transfer guard system fortransferring objects across a gap intermediate two conveying surfaces.The transfer guard system includes a mounting member having a channeland a plurality of transfer guard members having upper transfer surfacesfor transferring objects in a longitudinal, downstream direction betweenthe two conveying surfaces. The transfer guard members further includelower legs configured to fit in the channel and detachably mount thetransfer guard members to the mounting member. Because the transferguard member lower legs fit in the channel of the mounting member, theconnection between the transfer guard members and the mounting memberfits within a compact envelope between the conveying surfaces. Thismakes the transfer guard system suitable for transferring objects acrosssmall gaps between conveying surfaces.

The mounting member may include outer upstream and downstream surfacesand the transfer guard members each include a brace member spaced fromthe lower legs of the transfer guard member. The brace member isconfigured to contact one of the outer upstream and downstream surfacesof the mounting member. In response to a heavy object transferring ontothe upper transfer surface of one of the transfer guard members, thebrace member of the transfer guard member can contact the one of theouter upstream and downstream surfaces of the mounting member to resistdeflection of the transfer guard member.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a transfersystem is provided for transferring objects in a longitudinal directionacross a gap between conveying surfaces. The transfer system includes amounting member, a plurality of transfer members adapted to be connectedto the mounting member, and at least one mount configured to be securedto a mounting surface adjacent the conveying surfaces for supporting themounting member. The mounting member and the at least one mount areconfigured to form a snap-fit connection therebetween when moved in afirst predetermined direction relative to each other. In this manner,even if the distance between the conveying surfaces is relatively small,the mounting member can be connected to the at least one mount. Further,the user may not need to take any further steps to secure the mountingmember to the at least one mount after engaging the snap-fit connection,such as using bolts and nuts, which may be difficult given the smalldistance between the conveying surfaces.

A method is also provided of installing a transfer system fortransferring objects in a longitudinal direction across a gap betweenconveying surfaces. The method includes securing at least one mount to amounting surface adjacent the conveying surfaces. The method furtherincludes engaging at least one detent and at least one recess of amounting member and the at least one mount to connect the mountingmember to the at least one mount. The mounting member is associated witha plurality of transfer members adapted to transfer the object acrossthe gap. By connecting the mounting member and the at least one mountusing detent(s) and recess(es) thereof, the mounting member may berapidly secured to the at least one mount which shortens installationtime and reduces conveyor downtime. The method may also includeconnecting the plurality of transfer members to the mounting member. Inone form, the transfer members are transfer guard members having uppertransfer surfaces. The transfer members may take other forms, such asbristles of a brush or rollers.

While the transfer guard members are illustrated bridging a gap formedbetween two adjacent conveyor belt surfaces, they may also be used tobridge a gap between various other types of conveying surfaces, such as,without limitation, between the rollers of two roller conveyor systemsthat do not use a belt, between one roller conveyor system and anotherconveyor belt system, between a moving conveying surface and astationary conveying surface, such as a chute, or in a gap in a conveyorbelt, e.g., as a hitch guard. In addition, although the adjacent pulleysshown in the drawings have the same or a similar diameter, the transferguards may be implemented or be modified to bridge the gap formedbetween pulleys having different diameters, or to bridge the gap betweenconveying surfaces that are inclined with respect to one another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a transfer guard system showing aplurality of transfer guard members positioned side by side to bridge agap between conveyor belts;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one of the transfer guard members of thetransfer guard system of FIG. 1 showing an upper bridge portion and apair of depending resilient legs;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the transfer guard member of FIG. 2showing the legs in an expanded, initial configuration;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the transfer guard member of FIG. 3prior to installation in the gap between the two conveyor belts with thelegs in a deflected, insertion configuration;

FIG. 5 is an elevational view similar to FIG. 4 showing the transferguard member positioned in the gap between the conveyor belts and thelegs in an expanded, installation configuration with ends of the legsbeing urged against the conveyor belt surfaces;

FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view of an end transfer guard member ofthe transfer guard system of FIG. 1 showing a lateral extension of thetransfer guard member that may be cut longitudinally to customize thewidth of the plurality of transfer guard members for a particularinstallation;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of another transfer guard member showingresilient legs of the transfer guard member in an expanded, initialconfiguration;

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the transfer guard member of FIG. 7positioned in a gap between two moving conveyor belts with the upstreamconveyor belt having been torn so that there is a flap of the conveyorbelt spaced from an upstream, outboard portion of the bridge portion ofthe transfer guard member;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 7A showing the flap of theconveyor belt contacting a leading edge of the upstream outboardportion;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 8 showing the upper bridgeportion of the transfer guard member shifting toward the downstreamconveyor belt in response to the flap driving the upper bridge portiondownstream;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 9 showing a stop portionof the transfer guard member contacting the downstream conveyor belt andthe upstream outboard portion shifting generally upward over the flap ofthe upstream conveyor belt;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 10 showing the upperbridge portion springing forward once the upstream outboard portion hastraveled upward over the flap of the upstream conveyor belt;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 11 showing the flap of theconveyor belt having traveled beyond the upstream outboard portion ofthe transfer guard member;

Claims 12A-12F are a series of schematic views of one of the transferguard members of FIG. 1 showing an imperfection of the upstream conveyorbelt applying a sufficiently large force against the transfer guardmember to eject the transfer guard member downwardly from the gapbetween the conveyor belts;

FIGS. 12G-12L are a series of schematic views of one of the transferguard members of FIG. 1 showing a package becoming caught on thetransfer guard member and ejecting the transfer guard member upwardlyfrom the gap between the conveyor belts;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a transfer guard system in accordancewith the present invention showing a plurality of transfer guard memberspositioned side-by-side to bridge a gap between conveyor belts;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a single transfer guard member of thetransfer guard system of FIG. 13 showing an upper bridge portion and apair of depending resilient legs;

FIG. 15 is an elevational view of the transfer guard member of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is an elevational view of the transfer guard member of FIG. 14prior to installation between two conveyor belts with the resilient legsin an expanded configuration;

FIG. 17 is an elevational view of the transfer guard member of FIG. 16with the resilient legs being compressed for being inserted between thetwo conveyor belts;

FIG. 18 is an elevational view of the transfer guard member of FIG. 17in an installed configuration between two conveyor belts with theresilient legs biasing against the adjacent belts.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of alternate transfer guard system inaccordance with the present invention showing a plurality of transferguard members positioned side-by-side to bridge a gap between the twoconveyor belts;

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of a single transfer guard member of thetransfer guard system of FIG. 19 showing an upper bridge portion and anexpandable anchor member;

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the underside of the transfer guard ofFIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is an elevational view of the transfer guard member of FIG. 20installed between two conveyor belts with the expandable anchor memberin an unexpanded configuration;

FIG. 23 is an elevational view of the transfer guard member of FIG. 22with the expandable anchor member in an expanded configuration;

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of another transfer guard system showing aplurality of transfer guard members mounted in a gap between twoconveyor belts;

FIG. 24A is an elevational view of transfer guard members and a mountingbar of the transfer guard system of FIG. 24 showing different lengths ofthe transfer guard members;

FIG. 25 is a perspective view of one of the transfer guard members ofthe transfer guard system of FIG. 24 showing spaced attachment membersof the transfer guard member each having a pair of spaced legs forengaging a mounting bar;

FIG. 26 is a side elevational view of the transfer guard member of FIG.25 showing an outboard portion having a downwardly tapering uppersurface extending toward a tip of the outboard portion;

FIG. 27 is an enlarged, perspective view of a portion of the transferguard system of FIG. 24 showing longitudinally aligned pairs of upstreamand downstream transfer guard members with attachment members of each ofthe pairs of upstream and downstream transfer guard members having aninterdigitated configuration;

FIG. 28 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 27 showing a mount of thetransfer guard system and one of the transfer guard members removed toshow a narrowed attachment member of the end transfer guard member;

FIG. 28A is a perspective view of transfer guard members havingalternative attachment members;

FIG. 28B is a perspective view of transfer guard members havingalternative attachment members;

FIG. 29 is a schematic view of one of the transfer guard members of thetransfer guard system of FIG. 24 showing an attachment member of thetransfer guard member fixed to a mounting bar and an outboard edge ofthe transfer guard member contacting a damaged splice of the conveyorbelt;

FIG. 30 is a schematic view similar to FIG. 29 showing the damagedsplice moving with the conveying surface and bending the tip of thetransfer guard member downwardly;

FIG. 31 is a schematic view similar to FIG. 30 showing further bendingof the outboard portion of the transfer guard member which causes a legof the attachment member to disengage from the mounting bar;

FIG. 32 is a schematic view similar to FIG. 31 showing the outboardportion bent to a configuration that causes the another leg of theattachment member to disengage from the mounting bar and permits thetransfer guard member to detach from the mounting bar;

FIG. 33 is a perspective view of the mounting bar and one of the mountsof the transfer guard system of FIG. 24 showing the mount securing themounting bar to a skirt adjacent the conveyor belts;

FIG. 34 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 33 showing a rear plate ofthe mount secured to the skirt;

FIG. 35 is a perspective view of a front plate of the mount of FIG. 33connected to an end of the mounting bar and fastener retaining shims ofthe mount temporarily connected to the support for ease of handling;

FIG. 36 is a cross-sectional view taken across line 36-36 in FIG. 33showing the front plate securing the mounting bar to the rear plate,which is in turn fixed to the skirt;

FIG. 36A is a perspective view of another transfer guard system showingmounts of the system;

FIG. 37 is a perspective view of another transfer guard system showingaligned pairs of transfer guard members spanning a gap between conveyorbelts;

FIG. 38 is a perspective view of a single transfer guard member of thesystem of FIG. 37;

FIG. 39 is an elevational view of the transfer guard member of FIG. 38;

FIG. 40 is a perspective view of various different sizes of transferguard members demonstrating the modularity and customizability of thetransfer guard system;

FIG. 41 is a perspective view of an alternative configuration of thetransfer guard system of FIG. 37 showing one transfer guard memberremoved for illustrative purposes;

FIG. 42 is an elevational view of the transfer guard system of FIG. 41;

FIG. 43 is a side elevational view of another transfer guard systemshowing transfer guard members of the system bridging a gap betweenconveyor belts;

FIG. 44 is a perspective view of the transfer guard system and one ofthe conveyor belts of FIG. 43 showing the transfer guard membersconnected to an elongate mounting member and mounts of the system;

FIG. 45 is a perspective view of one of the mounts of the transfer guardsystem of FIG. 44 showing detents of the mount which form snap-fitconnections with the mounting member;

FIG. 46 is a perspective view of one of the transfer guard members ofFIG. 43 showing pairs of spaced legs of the transfer guard member fordetachably connecting to the mounting member;

FIG. 47 is a side elevational view of the transfer guard member of FIG.46 showing an outboard portion of the transfer guard member having adepending brace member for abutting the mounting member and resistingdeflection of the outboard portion;

FIG. 48 is an enlarged, perspective view of a portion of the transferguard system of FIG. 44 with a downstream one of the transfer guardmembers removed to show the associated upstream transfer guard memberconnected to the mounting member;

FIG. 49 is a side elevational view of a method of installing the systemof FIG. 43 showing the mounting member being lowered into the gap abovea support member of one of the mounts;

FIG. 50 is a view similar to FIG. 49 showing a lower end portion of themounting member engaging an upper portion of the support member;

FIG. 51 is a view similar to FIG. 50 showing a lower end portion of themounting member resting on the detents of the support member;

FIG. 52 is a view similar to FIG. 50 showing the detents of the supportmember camming arms of the mounting member apart as the mounting memberis advanced downward along the support member;

FIG. 53 is a view similar to FIG. 50 showing the detents of the mountreceived in channels of the mounting member arms to form the snap-fitconnection between the mounting member and the support member;

FIG. 54 is a view similar to FIG. 53 showing a transfer guard memberpositioned above a channel of the mounting member;

FIGS. 55 and 56 are views similar to FIG. 54 showing the legs of thetransfer guard member being urged together via camming engagement of thelegs against the mounting member;

FIG. 57 is a view similar to FIG. 56 showing feet of the transfer guardmember legs received within an enlarged portion of the channel of themounting member to detachably fix the transfer guard member to themounting member;

FIG. 58 is a view similar to FIG. 57 showing all of the transfer guardmembers connected to the mounting member and the support membersdeflecting in response to an imperfection in the conveyor belt strikingthe upstream transfer guard members;

FIG. 59 is a perspective view of another transfer guard system havingtransfer guard members connected to a mounting member and mounts of thesystem in a lateral configuration;

FIG. 60 is a view similar to FIG. 58 showing the mounts of the system ina vertical configuration;

FIG. 61 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the transferguard system of FIG. 58 showing the mounting member being lowered ontoone of the mounts to form a snap-fit connection therebetween;

FIG. 62 is perspective view of another transfer guard system havingtransfer guard members, a mounting member, and a pin for fixing legs ofthe transfer guard members within a channel of the mounting member;

FIG. 63 is a side elevational view of a portion of the transfer guardsystem of FIG. 62 showing the pin keeping the legs of one of thetransfer guard members engaged with the mounting member;

FIGS. 64, 65, and 66 are side elevational views of a method ofconnecting the transfer guard members to the mounting member;

FIG. 67 is a perspective view of another transfer guard system havingtransfer guard members, a mounting member, a locking pin for fixing thetransfer guard members to the mounting member, and locks for maintainingthe position of the locking pin relative to the transfer guard membersand the mounting member;

FIG. 68 is a cross-sectional view taken across line 68-68 in FIG. 67showing a screw clamping an arm of the mounting member against a supportof the transfer guard system; and

FIG. 69 is a perspective view of a set screw and a base of one of thelocks of the transfer guard system of FIG. 67 that are positioned in achannel of the mounting member to maintain the position of the lockingpin.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a transfer guard system 10 is provided having severaltransfer guard segments or members 12 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) that extendbetween pulleys 14, 16 of adjacent upstream and downstream conveyorbelts 18, 20 in a laterally extending gap 22. The transfer guard members12 are free-floating in that they are supported only by the adjacentbelts 18, 20 and pulleys 14, 16, and not a separate support structure,such as a support bar that spans the lateral gap 22. In addition, thetransfer guard members 12 shown are not attached to one another, butmerely abut one another along lateral sides 24, 26 thereof. However, thetransfer guard members 12 may include fixation structures for attachingthe guard members to one another if desired. With respect to FIG. 2, thetransfer guard members 12 each include a body 28 having an upper portion30 and a pair of lower, resilient legs 40, 42 separated by a gap. Thebody upper portion 30 has a bridge portion 34 with a generally flatupper surface 36 for providing support to objects, such as a box 29being conveyed between the upstream and downstream belts 18, 20, as wellas keeping materials from falling or getting trapped between the belts18, 20. The bridge portion 34 has upstream and downstream outboardportions 35, 37 configured to slidingly engage the conveyor belts 18, 20and facilitate movement of objects onto and off of the flat uppersurface 36. The spaced, resilient legs 40, 42 slidingly engaging theconveyor belts 18, 20 and support the body 28 in the gap 22 between theconveyor belts 18, 20. In one form, the resilient legs 40, 42 below thebridge portion 34 and includes contact portions 44, 46 for slidinglyengaging with the adjacent belts 18, 20 to keep the bridge portion 34 inplace. As used herein, the term resilient is intended to refer to theability of a material or component to elastically deform in response toloading during ordinary use of the material or component.

With respect to FIG. 3, the spaced, resilient legs 40, 42 are configuredto hold the bridge portion 34 in place while allowing for a resilientresponse to impacts from conveyed objects, debris, or belt splices, aswell as non-catastrophic failure modes that are designed not to damagethe belts 18, 20 or pulleys 14, 16. For example, should an object or adamaged belt splice impact an upstream edge 50 of the upstream outboardportion 35 with sufficient force, the transfer guard member 12 has atendency to lift up or eject upwardly from the gap 22 between the belts18, 20. In the case of an object, such as debris, a metal fastener, orthe like, the object will cause the transfer guard segment 12 toresiliently shift upwardly temporarily, or in the extreme case,completely eject from the gap 22, allowing the object to fall in the gap22, rather than get wedged between the edge 50 and the belt 18 and causedamage to the belt 18. In the case of a damaged belt splice, theresilient anchoring of the bridge portion 30 within the gap 22 limitsthe likelihood of causing further damage to the splice, as the transferguard member 12 uses its resiliency to absorb the impact and thensettles back into place after the impact. In addition, in some cases dueto excessive wear at the bridge portions 34 or the legs 40, 42, thetransfer guard member 12 may simply fall downward through the gapbetween the belts 18, 20, and may easily be replaced with a new transferguard member 12.

If sufficient upward force is applied to the transfer guard member 12,such as by impact, the transfer guard member 12 becoming caught on aconveyed item, or as a result of friction with the moving conveyor belts18, 20, the transfer guard member 12 may be ejected upwardly from thegap 22 no matter where the transfer guard member 12 is laterallypositioned along the gap 22 across the entire width of the belts 18, 20.If sufficient downward force is applied to the transfer guard member 12,such as the edge 50 of the upstream outboard portion 35 getting stuck ona severely damaged belt splice, the transfer guard member 12 may falldownwardly from the gap 22 no matter where the transfer guard member 12is laterally positioned along the gap 22. By configuring the spaced legs40, 42 to keep the transfer guard members 12 in place during normalconveyor belt operations (see FIG. 1) and eject upwardly or downwardlyfrom the gap 22 should a significantly high wedge impact force beapplied thereto, the transfer guard members 12 allow the items that areintended to be conveyed to pass smoothly over the gap 22, but candislodge when objects or damaged belt splices strongly impact an edge ofthe transfer guard member 12 to help avoid belt or splice damage.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the transfer guard members 12 have theirupper surfaces 36 sized so as to longitudinally span the gap 22 betweenbelts 18, 20 and adjacent pulleys 14, 16. In addition, the transferguard members 12 can be positioned so that there are no lateral gapsbetween adjacent transfer guard members 12, with adjacent sides 24, 26thereof abutting one another. Although the embodiments herein aredescribed with relation to a gap between two separate conveyor belts,the transfer guard members may also be used in a gap in a singleconveyor belt such as between adjacent hitch rollers. The discussionherein may also refer to conveying surfaces for convenience, and it isintended that conveying surfaces may encompass two portions of a singlesurface, e.g., portions of a conveyor belt surface on opposite sides ofa gap formed by a hitch in the conveyor belt. In addition, the transferguard system 10 could be implemented or be modified to be used withconveyor systems having rollers or pulleys with different diameters, tospan different sized gaps, to span gaps between belts or rollers havingdifferent elevations or angular orientations, to span between rollertype conveyors without a belt, between a belt or roller conveyor and achute, or other known conveyor systems, as would be apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art.

The transfer guard member 12 has a generally H-shaped configuration, asshown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The transfer guard member body 28 may be made ofa resilient, low friction material such as polymer, for example,ultra-high-molecular-weight (UHMW) polyethylene. The body 28 includesthe upper bridge portion 34 and the pair of depending legs 40, 42 thatcan resiliently flex to engage with the adjacent belts 18, 20 as theytravel around a lower portion of the adjacent pulleys 14, 16 toreleasably anchor the bridge portion 34 in the gap 22. As shown in FIG.3, the legs 40, 42 may extend beyond the upstream and downstream edges50, 52 of the bridge portion 10 when the legs 40, 42 are in an unbiasedconfiguration prior to insertion between adjacent pulleys 14, 16.

The transfer guard bridge portion 34 includes the opposing upstream anddownstream outboard portions 35, 37 extending from a central portion 54of the bridge portion 34. The outboard portions 35, 37 extend onto theconveyor belts 18, 20 and are configured to slidingly engage thesurfaces of the conveyor belts 18, 20. The outboard portion 35 positionsthe receiving, upstream edge 50 in close proximity to the conveyor belt18 traveling in direction 60 and returning in direction 62 about theupstream pulley 14 and the discharge, downstream edge 52 of thedownstream outboard portion 37 in close proximity to the belt 20traveling in direction 64 and returning in direction 66 about thedownstream pulley 16.

In one form, the transfer guard members 12 are symmetrical about acentral, vertical axis 68 as shown in FIG. 3 so as to allow the transferguard members 12 to be installed with either outboard portion 35, 37projecting upstream or downstream. This improves the ease ofinstallation of the transfer guard members 12 in the gap 22 and reducesthe likelihood of user error in the installation process. Additionally,the conveyor belts 18, 20 may convey items in two opposite directionssuch that the belt 18 is an upstream belt with the belts 18, 20operating in a first direction and the belt 20 is the upstream belt withthe belts 18, 20 operating in a second, opposite direction. The symmetryabout the vertical axis 68 permits the transfer guard member 12 to bebi-directional and transfer items across the gap 22 regardless of thedirection of the belts 18, 20. Further, an operator does not have tochange the orientation of the transfer guard members 12 before changingthe direction of the conveyor belts 18, 20 since the transfer guardmembers 12 are functional in both directions.

The legs 40, 42 are configured to provide contact portions 44, 46 thatare biased against the belts 18, 20 with sufficient force to resist thetendency of the bridge portion 34 to rotate due to forces caused by theadjacent belts 18, 20 moving past the transfer guard member 12(including a downward frictional force component on the upstreamoutboard portion 35 from the upstream belt 18 and an upward frictionalforce component on the downstream outboard portion 37 from thedownstream belt 20) and to keep the transfer guard member 12 from beingdislodged from the gap 22 between the pulleys 14, 16 during operation ofthe conveyor belts 18, 20. At the same time, the legs 40, 42 areconfigured to limit the size of the contact portions 44, 46 and theforce with which the contact portions 44, 46 are urged against the belts18, 20 to minimize wear on the legs 40, 42 and belts 18, 20 and avoidchattering of the legs 40, 42 with the belts 18, 20.

As shown in FIG. 3, the transfer guard member body 28 includes one ormore transition portions 70, 72 extending from the bridge portion 34that provide rigidity to the legs 40, 42 and urge the legs 40, 42against the conveyor belts 18, 20. The transfer guard member body 28includes at least one stop, such as a stop portions 80, 82, for limitingmovement of the transfer guard member 12 in the gap 22 during operationof the conveyor belts 18, 20, as discussed in greater detail below.

The legs 40, 42 extend downwardly from the transition portions 70, 72and form extended arcuate portions 84, 86 that initially curve inwardlytoward each other and then extend downward and away from each other.Each leg 40, 42 includes a distal end portion 90, 92 with contactsurfaces 94, 96 for contacting the adjacent belt 18, 20 during normaloperation. In one form, the distal end portions 90, 92 have roundedprotrusions with the contact surfaces 94, 96 thereon.

The arcuate portions 84, 86 may be sized and configured such that outerfacing surfaces 100, 102 of the arcuate portions 84, 86 do not engagewith belts 18, 20 during normal operation, but upon impact of an objectwith the bridge portion 34, the outer facing surfaces 100, 102 may beurged into engagement with the belts 18, 20 and provide anchoringsupport to the bridge portion 34 to help absorb the impact and preventejection of the transfer guard member 12 from the gap 22. Although thetransition portions 70, 72 connect the legs 40, 42 to the bridge portion34, the legs 40, 42 may be directly connected to the bridge portion 34in other forms. Further, the shape, size, and orientation of thetransition portions 70, 72 and legs 40, 42 may be selected to provide adesired amount of sliding engagement with the conveying surfaces in aparticular application.

With reference to FIGS. 3-5, a method of installing the transfer guardmember 12 into the gap 22 between the belts 18, 20 is shown. Initially,the legs 40, 42 have an unbiased, expanded configuration with the legs40, 42 splayed apart as shown in FIG. 3. The legs 40, 42 are urgedtogether to a deflected, insertion configuration as shown in FIG. 4. Inthe insertion configuration, the distal end portions 90, 92 are biasedinwardly toward one another to provide clearance for the distal endportions 90, 92 to fit into the gap 22 between the conveyor belts 18,20. The legs 40, 42 are spaced apart in the deflected, insertionconfiguration and do not overlap laterally across the transfer guardmember 12.

The user then advances the transfer guard member 12 in direction 110 andinserts the distal end portions 90, 92 of the legs 40, 42 into the gap22. The user may press downwardly in direction 110 on the upper surface36 of the bridge portion 34 to seat the transfer guard member 12 in thegap 22 and position the upstream and downstream outboard portions 35, 37near or against the conveyor belts 18, 20 as shown in FIG. 5. With thedistal end portions 90, 92 advanced below centerlines of the pulleys 14,16, the legs 40, 42 shift apart toward an expanded, installationconfiguration and resiliently bias the contact surfaces 94, 96 againstthe conveyor belts 18, 20. The bridge portion 31 may contact the belts18, 20 below the upper surfaces 120, 122 of the belts 18, 20 to providefor smooth transfer of objects from the belt 18 to the upper transfersurface 36 and subsequently to the downstream belt 20. In addition, thecontact surfaces 94, 96 may engage the adjacent belts 18, 20 below thecenterlines of the pulleys 14, 16, and may engage the adjacent belts 18,20 closer to the lower extent of the pulleys 14, 16 so that the legs 40,42 must be flexed significantly in order to expel the transfer guardmember 12 from the gap 22.

In an alternative form, the transfer guard member 12 may have only asingle downstream leg 42 to engage the conveyor belt 20. The singledownstream leg 42 would provide sufficient engagement with conveyor belt20 to resist the upwardly directed forces on the downstream outboardportion 37 from the conveyor belt 20 and the downwardly directed forceson the upstream outboard portion 35. In other forms, the transfer guardmember 12 may have three, four, or another number of members or devicesfor engaging one or both of the conveying surfaces.

The sliding engagement between the transfer guard member 12 and theconveyor belts 18, 20 may take a variety of forms. For example, one ormore of the outboard portions 35, 37 and legs 40, 42 may employ rollingcontact with the conveyor belts 18, 20, such as wheels or rollers thatrotate as the conveyor belts 18, 20 travel past the transfer guardmember 12.

The transfer guard member 12 may be integrally formed from a singlepiece of material, such as UHMW polyethylene. The term integral isintended to refer to a single, one-piece construction. In one approach,the transfer guard member 12 is formed by extruding UMHW polyethylenethrough a die having the desired cross sectional shape of the transferguard member 12. The transfer guard member 12 could alternatively beformed by casting, injection moulding, machining, or three dimensionalprinting, for example. In one form, the transfer guard member 12 couldbe formed from a plurality of components connected together. Forexample, the transfer guard member 12 could have a two-part constructionincluding the bridge portion 34 formed of a first material and the legs40, 42 formed of a second material that is secured to the bridge portion34 using welding or fasteners, for example.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 6, the transfer guard members 12 includeone or two end transfer guard members 12A that are similar to thetransfer guard member 12 discussed above. The end transfer guard members12A, however, include a bridge portion 132 with an installation portion134 that can be adjusted to customize the overall lateral width of theplurality of transfer guard members 12 within the gap 22 and ensure thatthe transfer guard members 12, 12A completely fill the gap 22 and avoidany openings between the conveyor belts 18, 20 which could catchconveyed items or debris. For example, the installation portion 134 mayinclude a lateral extension 136 with a reduced thickness. To customizethe width of the transfer guard member 12A, and the resulting overallwidth of the transfer guard members 12 within the gap 22, a user may cutthe lateral extension 136 of the transfer guard member 12A along an axis138 to obtain a desired width 140 of the transfer guard 12A. Because thelateral extension 136 is positioned laterally from legs 142 of thetransfer guard member 12A, a user does not need to cut through the legs142 in order to obtain a desired width 140 of the transfer guard 12A,which makes customization easier.

With reference to FIGS. 7 and 7A, another transfer guard member 150 isprovided that is similar in many respects to the transfer guard member12. The transfer guard member 150 is shown installed in a gap 152between two moving conveyor belts 154, 156. The transfer guard member150 has a bridge portion 157 with upstream and downstream outboardportions 158, 160 slidingly engaged with the conveyor belts 154, 156 inan upper, enlarged area 162 of the gap 152. The conveyor belts 154, 156have a narrowed area 164 that defines a minimum distance 166 between theconveyor belts 154, 156 and a lower, enlarged area 170 below thenarrowed area 164. The transfer guard member 150 has lower, resilientlegs 174, 176 with distal end portions 178, 180 slidingly engaged withthe belts 154, 156 in the lower, enlarged area 170 of the gap 152.Intermediate the outboard portions 158, 160 and the legs 174, 176, thetransfer guard member 150 has stop portions 182, 184 spaced from theconveyor belts 154, 156 as shown in FIG. 6. During normal operation, theoutboard portions 158, 160 rest on the moving conveyor belts 154, 156 inthe upper area 162 of the gap 152 and the legs 174, 176 bias the distalend portions 178, 180 against the moving conveyor belts 154, 156 in thelower area 170 of the gap 152 which holds the transfer guard member 150within the gap 152.

With reference to FIGS. 7A-12, the transfer guard member 150 has freedomto shift within the gap 152 and navigate significantly damaged conveyingsurfaces without causing further damage to the conveying surfaces. As anexample, the conveyor belt 154 is shown having been cut and a large flap190 is upstanding from the conveyor belt 154. The conveyor belt 154moves in direction 192 and advances the flap 190 into contact with anupstream edge 191 of the upstream outboard portion 158.

With reference to FIG. 8, the flap 190 moving in direction 192 engagesthe upstream edge 191 of the transfer guard member 150 and shifts thebridge portion 157 in direction 194. This presses a downstream edge 196of the outboard portion 160 against the conveyor belt 156.

With reference to FIG. 9, the flap 190 continues to move in direction192 around the pulley associated with the conveyor belt 154 and shiftsthe bridge portion 157 farther in direction 194 which engages a lowersurface 200 of the outboard portion 160 with the conveyor belt 156.Further, the shifting of the bridge portion 157 in direction 194 engagesthe stop portion 184 with the conveyor belt 156. At this juncture, thetransfer guard member 150 is engaged with the conveyor belt 156 at threeareas—the outboard portion edge 196 and lower surface 200, the stopportion 184, and the leg distal end portion 180. These three engagementareas temporarily couple the transfer guard member 150 to the conveyorbelt 156. The conveyor belt 156, however, continues to rotate indirection 193 about its associated pulley.

Turning to FIG. 10, because the transfer guard member 150 is temporarilycoupled to the conveyor belt 156, the rotation of the conveyor belt 156in direction 193 causes the bridge portion 157 to tilt and raise theupstream edge 191 upward in direction 202, over the flap 190 of theconveyor belt 154. Comparing FIGS. 8 and 9, the upstream leg 174 isresiliently tensioned in response to the flap 190 urging the bridgeportion 157 downstream in direction 194 and moved an arcuate outersurface 204 of the upstream leg 174 away from the conveyor belt 154, asshown in FIG. 10. Once the upstream edge 191 starts to travel upward indirection 202 over the flap 190, the leg 174 springs back and draws thebridge portion 157 upstream in direction 206. Further, the slidingengagement of the leg distal end portion 178 and the conveyor belt 154traveling in direction 192 causes the leg 174 to pull downward on theoutboard portion 158 and direct the upstream edge 191 downward behindthe flap 190.

With reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, the movement of the bridge portion157 in direction 206 disengages the stop portion 184 from the conveyorbelt 156 and permits the stop portion 184 to move in direction 206 awayfrom the conveyor belt 156. In this manner, the transfer guard member157 is now engaged with the conveyor belt 156 at only two areas—thedownstream outboard portion edge 196 and lower surface 200 and the legdistal end portion 180. The fewer points of contact between the transferguard member 150 and the conveyor belt 154 effectively de-couples thetransfer guard member 150 from the conveyor belt 154 moving in direction193 such that the outboard portion 160 and distal end portion 180 returnto normal, sliding engagement with the conveyor belt 156.

With reference to FIG. 12, the upstream edge 191 of the transfer guardmember 150 has successfully navigated up and over the flap 190. The flap190 has started to travel along a lower surface 210 of the upstreamoutboard portion 158 and toward the leg 174. The flap 190 may travelalong the outer arcuate surface 204 of the leg 174, the distal endportion 178, and away from the transfer guard member 150 in direction192.

As shown in FIGS. 7A-12, the transfer guard member 150 may navigateupward over large irregularities in a conveyor belt 154 without furtherdamaging the conveyor belt 154. In the event that the upstream edge 191is unable to disengage from the irregularity, such as a severely damagedsplice, the irregularity will pull the upstream outboard portion 158 indirection 192 with the irregularity. The bridge portion 157 would foldtoward the downstream leg 180 in order to permit the upstream outboardportion 158 to move in direction 192 with the irregularity. Theirregularity would continue to pull the transfer guard member 150 withit in direction 192 until the transfer guard member 150 falls downwardlyout of the gap 152. Because the transfer guard member 150 slidinglyengages the conveyor belts 154, 156 and holds itself in the gap 152, thetransfer guard member 150 can fall downwardly out of the gap 152 withoutinterference from any rigid mounting structures. This further reducesthe likelihood that the transfer guard member 150 could become lodgedagainst the conveyor belt 154 and damage the conveyor belt 154 due tothe irregularity. It will be appreciated that the transfer guard member12 may operate in a manner similar to the foregoing description of thetransfer guard member 150.

With reference to FIGS. 12A-12L, the transfer guard member 12 may beejected upwardly or downwardly from the gap 22 in response to asubstantial force being applied to the bridge portion 34. By ejectingfrom the gap 22, the transfer guard member 12 avoids damaging theconveyor belts 18, 20 by not becoming lodged or wedged against theconveyor belts 18, 20. With reference to FIG. 12A, the transfer guardmember 12 is shown in its normal operating configuration with upper bodyportion 34 in an operating orientation for conveying goods across thegap 22 and the upstream and downstream outboard portions 35, 37 and theleg distal end portions 90, 92 are slidingly engaged with the conveyorbelts 18, 20. Further, the stop portions 80, 82 and outer, arcuatesurfaces 100, 102 of the legs 40, 42 are spaced from the conveyor belts18, 20 by air gaps 89, 91. The conveyor belt 18 travels in direction 60and has a flap 190A traveling into contact against the upstream edge 50.With reference to FIG. 12B, the flap 190A engages the upstream outboardportion 34 and lifts and tilts the bridge portion 34 within the gap 22.The engagement of the flap 190A against the upstream outboard portion 35shifts the bridge portion 34 downstream and engages the stop portion 82against the conveyor belt 20. The flap 190A is distinguishable from theflap 190 discussed above with respect to FIGS. 7A-12 because the flap190A becomes caught on the upstream outboard portion 35 whereas theupstream outboard portion 158 is able to deflect flap 190 out of the wayof the transfer guard member 150. Thus, with reference to FIGS. 12B and12C, the belt 18 and flap 190A caught on the upstream edge 50 continuesto move in direction 60 which further tilts the upper bridge portion 34and bends the leg 42 such that an angle 93 between the transitionportion 72 and the leg 42 decreases as the leg 42 bends.

With reference to FIGS. 12D-12F, the flap 190A of the conveyor belt 18has lifted the bridge portion 34 to an inclined, failure orientationwherein the bridge portion may fall through the gap 22. This movement ofthe bridge portion 34 further bends the leg 42 relative to thetransition portion 72. With reference to FIGS. 12E and 12F, the flapportion 190A continues traveling in direction 160 away from the bridgeportion 34 while the transfer guard member 12 falls downward from thegap 22. As shown in FIGS. 12A-12F, the transfer guard member 12 mayeject downwardly from the gap rather than becoming wedged on the flap190A and further damaging the conveyor belt 18.

With reference to FIGS. 12G-12L, the transfer guard member 12 mayalternatively be ejected upwardly from the gap 22 in response to ahorizontal or upward force moving the upper body portion 34 upward outof the gap 22. Specifically, the transfer guard member 12 is shown inFIG. 12G in a normal operating configuration with the upstream anddownstream outboard portions 35, 37 and the leg distal end portions 90,92 slidingly engaging the conveyor belts 18, 20. A heavy object, such asan oversize box 29, may in some rare instances become caught on theupstream outboard portion 35. With reference to FIG. 12H, the box 29 hasa corner 99 that may be shaped and positioned in such a way that itbecomes lodged under the upstream edge 50. With reference to FIG. 12I,the box 29 travels along the conveyor belt 18 in a conveying direction101 and, due to the engagement of the corner 99 with the edge 50, shiftsthe bridge portion 34 downstream and engages the stop portion 82 againstthe conveyor belt 20. As shown in FIG. 12J, the continued movement ofthe box 29 in direction 101 applies sufficient force to cam a curvedlower surface of the outboard portion 37 up and out of engagement withthe conveyor belt 20. In contrast to the flap 190 of FIGS. 7A-12, theheavy box 29 does not deflect in response to contact or engagement withthe upstream outboard portion 35 and applies sufficiently high forceagainst the bridge portion 34 to dislodge the bridge portion 34 from thegap 22.

With reference to FIGS. 12J and 12K, the movement of the box 29 indownstream direction 101 shifts the bridge portion 34 downstream whichbends the leg 92 relative to the transition portion 72 by a greater andgreater amount as the bridge portion 34 is removed from the gap 22. Withreference to FIG. 12L, the transfer guard member 12 has been fullyejected from the gap 22 by the block 29. Although the transfer guardmember 12 has been ejected from the gap 22, the laterally adjacenttransfer guard members 12 of the transfer guard system 10 may supportthe box 29 as it travels across the gap 22. Further, the transfer guardmember 12 is able to eject upwardly from the gap 22 without becomingwedged against the conveyor belt 12 and damaging the conveyor belt 20.Thus, the transfer guard member may eject upwardly or downwardly fromthe gap 22 to accommodate out-of-the ordinary forces being applied tothe transfer guard member 12 without causing damage to the conveyorbelts 18, 20. It will be appreciated at the loading required to dislodgethe transfer guard member 12 may be rarely, if ever, encountered by atransfer guard system 10 in normal use. But, when it does occur, thetransfer guard system 10 provides improved ability to handle the loadingwithout damaging the conveyor belts 18, 20.

As shown in FIGS. 13-18, another transfer guard system 250 is providedthat is similar in many respects to the transfer guard system 10, thetransfer guard system 250 is configured for bridging a gap 252 betweenconveying surfaces such as conveyor belts 254, 256. The transfer guardsystem 250 includes a plurality of transfer guard members 260 that aresimilar to the transfer guard members 12 such that differences betweenthe transfer guard members 12, 260 will be highlighted.

The transfer guard member 260 has a body 262 with an upper bridgeportion 264, as shown in FIG. 14. The bridge portion 264 has asubstantially flat upper surface 265 and upstream and downstreamoutboard portions 270, 272 with different configurations than theupstream and downstream outboard portions 35, 37 of the transfer guardmember 12. With reference to FIGS. 14 and 18, the upstream outboardportion 270 has a lower inclined surface 274 that tapers downstream awayand down from an upstream edge 276. The lower inclined surface 274 has asmaller radius of curvature than an upstream pulley 280 so as tominimize the contact surface between the bridge portion 264 and the belt254 to reduce the amount of friction therebetween and to avoidchattering, i.e. undesirable vibration caused by the contact surfacesrepeatedly sticking and slipping against the belts 254, 256. A similarlower inclined surface 275 is provided on the downstream outboardportion 272. The outboard portions 270, 272 also include upper inclinedsurface portions 284, 286 to facilitate a smooth transfer of conveyedobjects from the belt 254 to the upper surface 265 of the bridge portion264 and likewise from the upper surface 264 to the downstream belt 256.Alternatively, the upper and lower surfaces 284, 286 and 274, 275 couldhave other constructions, such as an arcuate configuration that matchesthe contour of the adjacent pulley or other conveying surface, or anon-arcuate or flat configuration so as to give the outboard portions270, 272 a wedge-shaped configuration. Advantageously, the lowerinclined surfaces 274, 275 can act as abutment surfaces against theadjacent belts 254, 256 when the bridge portion 264 experiences animpact from a belt splice or an object traveling on the conveyorsurface.

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the body 260 has a pair of resilient legs290, 292 that are connected to and extend initially downwardly from acentral portion of an underside 296 of the bridge portion 264. Each leg290, 292 then includes a longitudinally extending portion 298, 300 thatis offset from the underside 296 of bridge portion 264 and extendstowards the outboard portions 270, 272. These portions 298, 300 aregenerally parallel to the upper surface 265.

Although the legs 290, 292 are connected to the bridge portion 264 nearthe center, they could be connected at other portions of underside 296of the bridge portion 264. Further, the longitudinally extendingportions 298, 300 could be omitted such that extended arcuate portions302, 304 of the legs 290, 292 could be directly connected to the bridgeportion 264, similarly to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 19-23. However,the configuration shown provides additional flexibility to the legs 290,292 that may be desirable for many applications.

With reference to FIGS. 16-18, a process of installing the transferguard member 260 into the gap 252 between the conveyor belts 254, 256 isshown. In FIG. 16, the legs 290, 292 have an initial, undeflectedconfiguration with distal end portions 310, 312 thereof spaced apartfrom each other. A user urges the legs 290, 292 together to shift thelegs 290, 292 into an insertion configuration and then advances thetransfer guard member 260 in direction 314 into the gap 252, as shown inFIG. 17. The user presses downward on the upper surface 265 and seatsthe upstream and downstream outboard portions 270, 272 against theconveyor belts 254, 256. The legs 290, 292 expand apart and resilientbias contact portions 316, 318 thereof against the conveyor belts 254,256 below the equators of the pulleys 280, 281, as shown in FIG. 18.

As shown in FIG. 14, the bridge portion 264 may include a laterallyextending throughbore 320 that extends between opposite lateral sides322, 324 for use with one or more sensors for detecting when one of thetransfer guard members 260 is out of alignment or has been ejected fromthe gap 252. Sensors could include, without limitation, a wire, contact,or a photo eye. It will be appreciated that the other transfer guardmembers described herein could include a throughbore or other structurefor being sensed sensors to detect misalignment or removal of thetransfer guard members.

With reference to FIGS. 19-23, a transfer guard system 350 is providedthat includes one or more transfer guard members 352 with a bridgeportion 354 and a pair of resilient legs 362, 364. The transfer guardmembers 352 are similar to the transfer guard members 260 discussedabove such that difference between the two will be highlighted. Forexample, the bridge portion 354 is identical to the bridge portion 264,except for an actuator such as a threaded fastener 358 (see FIG. 22)that extends through an opening 360 in the bridge portion 354 foradjusting the shape or size of the legs 362, 364. Description of variousidentical portions of the bridge portions 264, 354 are omitted for thesake of brevity.

As shown in FIGS. 20 and 22, the legs 362, 364 are interconnected attheir ends with an actuator engagement portion 368. The resilient legs362, 364 include arcuate portions 370, 372 that extend generallydownward and away from each other. The legs 362, 364 then turn backinwards toward one another along inwardly extending portions 374, 376.The intersection between the arcuate portions 370, 372 and inwardlyextending portions 374, 376 form protruding abutment portions 378, 380that are configured to engage with the adjacent belts 382, 384 atcontact surfaces 386, 388 during normal operation. The arcuate portions370, 372 may be sized and configured such that the outer facing surfaces370A, 372A do not engage with belts 382, 384 during normal operation,but upon impact of an object with the bridge portion 354, the outerfacing surfaces 370A, 372A may be urged into engagement with theadjacent belt 382, 384 and provide support to the bridge portion 354 tohelp absorb the impact and prevent expulsion of the transfer guardmember 352.

The legs 362, 364 are configured to provide the small contact surfaces386, 388 that are biased against adjacent belts 382, 384 with sufficientforce to resist the tendency of the bridge portion 354 to rotate due toengagement with the forces exerted by the adjacent belts 382, 384 and tokeep the transfer guard member 352 from unnecessarily being dislodgedfrom a gap 390 between pulleys 392, 394. At the same time, if thecontact surfaces 386, 388 of the legs 362, 364 are too large or arebiased against the adjacent belts 382, 384 with too much force, thefriction generated can cause premature wear on the legs 362, 364 and thebelts 382, 384, and may also cause undesirable chattering.

At the distal extent of the inwardly extending portions 374, 376, thelegs 362, 364 turn upwardly towards the bridge portion 354 and extend inbetween the arcuate portions 370, 372 and inwardly extending portions374, 376, and then terminate in a single actuator engagement portion368, such that the legs 362, 364 are interconnected. The actuatorengagement portion 368 includes a vertically oriented throughbore 400(shown in FIG. 21) into which the threaded fastener 358 extends. Thethroughbore 400 may be sized to receive a nut for threadingly engagingwith the threaded fastener 358, or the throughbore 400 itself may bethreaded. The threaded fastener 358 includes a head portion 402 with aflat top that is rotatably disposed in the opening 360 that extendsthrough the bridge portion 354 and is coaxial with throughbore 400. Thefastener head portion 402 lies flush with or recessed below an uppersurface 404 of the bridge portion 354 so as to not interfere withobjects being conveyed across the bridge surface 404.

When the fastener 358 is rotated clockwise by a driver, the actuatorengagement portion 368 is drawn upwards due to the threaded engagementwith the fastener. Due to the resilient nature of the material of thelegs 362, 364, pulling the actuator engagement portion 368 upwardlycauses the protruding abutment portions 378, 380 to be projectedoutwardly to expand the size of the legs 362, 364 along the longitudinaldimension of the bridge portion 354. FIGS. 22 and 23 demonstrate thelegs 362, 364 in a first unexpanded orientation (FIG. 22) and anexpanded orientation (FIG. 23), wherein the protruding abutment portions378, 380 have been expanded until they are in engagement with theadjacent belts 384, 386. With this configuration, the user may choosethe amount biasing force applied by the protruding abutment portions378, 380 on the belts 384, 386. This adjustability is advantageous forfine tuning the transfer guard 352 to its environment. For example, ifmore stability is required, the user may expand the legs 362, 364 toexert more force on the adjacent belts 384, 386. If stability is less ofa concern, the user may adjust the legs 362, 364 to exert a relativelysmall amount of pressure on the adjacent belts to reduce wear on theabutment portions 378, 380.

The transfer guard member 352 may be configured to interact with aposition sensor to provide a signal when one or more of the members 352are out of position. For example, a throughbore may be provided throughthe body of the bridge portion 354 similar to the one shown in FIG. 14for interacting with a sensor. However, the throughbore may bepositioned off-center to accommodate the fastener 358. Known sensors,such as contactors, wires, photoelectric eyes, etc., may be used forthis purpose.

The transfer guard members 12, 150, 260, and 352 advantageously aremodular and therefore may be used in combination to span the gap alongthe entire lateral width of a conveyor system or adjacent conveyorsystems. In addition, if one of the plurality of the transfer guardmembers becomes damaged or worn, it may be replaced without needing toreplace or disturb the other transfer guard members. In another form, atransfer guard system utilizing the transfer guard members 12, 150, 260,352 may have a single, elongated transfer guard member 12, 150, 260, 352bridging the gap between the conveying surfaces rather than a pluralityof transfer guard members.

Another advantage of the free-floating transfer guard members 12, 150,260, 352 is their ease of installment. The floating transfer guardmembers are self-supporting, and need no additional structural supportsto be bought or fabricated for their installment. Further, no tools(other than a driver for the embodiment shown in FIGS. 19-23) are neededfor installation. In addition, if the adjacent pulleys are crowned, nomodification of the transfer guard members may be required, as thetransfer guard members simply will follow the curvature of the pulleys.This eliminates the need for a curved support bar or a custom-madecurved bridge portion.

Another transfer guard system 450 in accordance with the presentinvention is disclosed in FIGS. 24-36. The transfer guard system 450includes several transfer guard members 452 (FIGS. 25-28) that extendacross a laterally extending gap 454 between conveying surfaces, such asadjacent belts 456, 458. The transfer guard members 452 have attachmentmembers 459 for forming detachable connections 462 with an elongatemounting member, such as a mounting bar 460, which is disposed in thegap 454. The detachable connections 462 and mounting bar 460 are similarto those described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,365,899, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety. In this manner, should debrisget stuck under one of the transfer guard members 452 and against themoving belt 456 and either hit the transfer guard member 452 or later beimpacted by a conveyed item to generate a sufficient upward force, thetransfer guard member 452 can detach from the mounting bar 460 via thedetachable connection 462 therebetween immediately below an upper,transfer surface 464 of the transfer guard member 102.

As shown in FIGS. 24 and 25, the transfer guard members 452 each extendfrom the bar 460 to one of the belts 456, 458, such that two transferguard members 452 are required to extend across the entire longitudinalgap. Each pair of transfer guard members 452 are longitudinally aligned,which as used herein refers to an alignment where at least a portion ofthe upstream and downstream transfer guard members 452 overlap along alongitudinal axis. For example, the entirety of the transfer guardmembers 452 are longitudinally aligned as shown in FIG. 27. As anotherexample, FIG. 28A shows another embodiment of transfer guard members 431that include upstream and downstream transfer guard members 431A, 431Bthat have less than the entire upstream transfer guard member 431Alongitudinally aligned with the downstream transfer guard member 431Bwhen the transfer guard members 431A, 431B are mounted to a mountingbar. Each transfer guard member 431 has an attachment member 433 with asingle recess 435 and a pair of bridge portions 437 extending alongopposite lateral sides of the recess 435. When the transfer guardmembers 431 are mounted to a mounting bar, the recess 435 of eachtransfer guard member 431 receives one bridge portion 437 of twoadjacent transfer guard members 431. Further, lateral sides 439A, 439Bof the upstream and downstream transfer guard members 431A, 431B arelaterally offset from one another. With reference to FIG. 28B, anotherembodiment of transfer guard members 441 are provided including upstreamand downstream transfer guard members 441A, 441B that have less than theentire upstream transfer guard member 441A longitudinally aligned withthe downstream transfer guard member 441B. Each transfer guard member441 has an attachment member 443 with a single bridge portion 445 and apair of recesses 445, 447. When the transfer guard members 441 aremounted to a mounting bar, the bridge portion 445 of each transfer guardmember 441 is positioned in the the recesses 445, 447 of two adjacenttransfer guard members 441. As shown in FIGS. 27, 28A, and 28B, thetransfer guard members 452, 431, and 441 are all configured to mountedend-to-end on a mounting bar and form a non-linear gap or seamtherebetween. Further, it will be appreciated that the upstream anddownstream transfer guard members 452, 431, and 441 should be consideredto be longitudinally aligned within the context of this application.

Returning to FIGS. 24 and 25, each transfer guard member 452 has a body470 including the upper surface 464 for longitudinally spanning aportion of the gap 454. The bodies 470 of the transfer guard members 452may be produced in various standard sizes and used in combinations tospan various different size gaps. For example and with reference to FIG.40, four different sized transfer guard members 610A, 610B, 610C, and610D, of an alternative embodiment are shown mounted on a single barmember 608. Accordingly, nine different sized gaps between conveyors canbe spanned with four different sized transfer guard members 610A, 610B,610C, and 610D. For example, to span a gap of six inches, two three-inch(nominal) members 610B would be used. To span a gap of eight inches, athree-inch member 610B and a five-inch member 610C would be used or,alternatively, a two-inch member 610A and a six-inch member 610D couldbe used. It will be appreciated that the transfer guard members 452 maybe provided in the two, three, five, and six inch lengths as in FIG. 40or other lengths.

The modularity provided by the transfer guard member 452 allows forvariation in the position where the mounting bar 460 can be placed, asshown in FIGS. 24 and 24A, which show a 9-inch gap with a three-inchmember 452B and a six-inch member 452A. Specifically, the bar 460 willbe placed closer to the conveyer belt 458 than the conveyor belt 456. Inaddition, given that a small number of different size members may beused to span a variety of gap sizes and configurations, production costsare lower than if a unique sized member was made for each gap size. Inaddition, it becomes more cost-effective for a user to keep stock ofvarious transfer guard member sizes to quickly replace members that wearout or become damaged. Regardless of longitudinal length, the transferguard members 452 can be positioned on the mounting bar 460 so thatthere are no lateral gaps between adjacent transfer guard members 452,with adjacent lateral side 472 thereof abutting one another.

One of ordinary skill would understand that the sizes described aremerely examples, and other size members could be used to span differentsize gaps. In addition, the transfer guard members 452 are configured tobe easily modified to span gaps that fall in between the sizes of thetransfer guard members, i.e. a 7.5-inch gap could be spanned by afive-inch member and a three-inch member by shortening the length of oneor both of the members as necessary. However, such modification may notbe necessary in many cases, as the gap sizes between conveyor surfacesmay vary at different elevations between the conveyor surfaces. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 24A, the space between the pulleys 476, 478varies due to their arcuate profile, i.e., the gap is larger near thetops of the pulleys 476, 478 than it is at the middle between theircenters. Accordingly, if the transfer guard members 452, are slightlytoo short, they may be mounted slightly lower in the gap 454 where thepulleys 476, 478 are closer together, and vice versa.

Turning to FIG. 25, the attachment member 459 of the transfer guardmember includes an upper bridge portion 482 and two pairs of depending,resilient legs 484, 486 that can resiliently flex to form the detachableconnection 462 with the mounting bar 460. The bridge portion 482 mayhave one or more through openings that increase the flexibility of thelegs 484, 486. Further, the bridge portion 482, legs 484, 486, and theunderside of the outboard portion 514 may have a webbed configurationthat provides substantially uniform wall thickness of the body 470 whichmay be advantageous for certain manufacturing techniques, such asinjection molding.

The pairs of legs 484, 486 includes outer legs 485A, 485B and inner legs487A, 487B. The pairs of legs 484, 486 are spaced apart by the lateralwidth of one of the pairs of legs 484, 486, and the pair of legs 484 isoffset from one side 472 of the transfer guard member 452 such that thepairs of legs 484, 486 of a second (i.e. downstream) transfer guardmember 452B can be interdigitated in a zipper-like fashion with the legspairs 484, 486 of the first (i.e. upstream) transfer guard member 452A,as shown in FIGS. 24 and 27. The interdigitated leg 484, 486 pairs ofthe end-to-end transfer guard members 452A, 452B provide a discontinuoustransverse gap or seam 490 between the members 452A, 452B that is lesslikely to interfere with conveyed product than a continuous transverseseam between each pair of end-to-end transfer guard member 452. Inparticular, any laterally-oriented gaps that might form between outerfacing surfaces 492, 494 of the leg pairs 484, 486 of one of theend-to-end transfer guard members 452 and corresponding flat surfaceportions 496, 498 adjacent the leg pairs 484, 486 of the other of theend-to-end transfer guard member 452 would be longitudinally spacedapart from one another so as to not result in a single gap that spansacross the lateral width of the transfer guard system 450 that mightsnag small products or collect debris.

Another advantage of the offset pairs of legs 484, 486 is that the twotransfer guard members 452A, 452B may be mounted to the bar 460end-to-end such that the lateral sides 472 are aligned. Otherconfigurations of legs 484, 486 may be used, including using a singlepair legs offset on one side of the transfer guard member 452, or spacedapart leg pairs located at both sides 472 such that the mating transferguard members 452 would have a centrally located pair of legs to belocated between the spaced-apart legs of the other transfer guard member452. Alternatively, the transfer guard member 102 could have more thantwo pairs of spaced-apart legs 484, 486.

Each leg pair 484, 486 includes a protrusion 500, 502 on the outerfacing surface 492, 494 of the outer legs 485A, 485B as shown in FIG.25. The protrusions 500, 502 engage with corresponding flat surfaceportions 496, 498 adjacent the pairs of legs 484, 486 of the oppositetransfer guard member 452 with an interference fit. The interference fitcreates a clash between the transfer guard members 452A, 452B that keepsgaps from forming between the outer facing surfaces 492, 494 of theouter legs 485A, 485B and the flat surface portions 496, 498. Inaddition, the interference fit also helps to bias outer edges 510, 512of the transfer guard members 452A, 452B toward the conveying surfacesand helps to keep the edges 510, 512 from being knocked upwardly andaway from the conveying surfaces when the edges 510, 512 experienceimpacts.

As shown in FIG. 24A, when the transfer guard members 452 are releasablysecured to the mounting bar 460, the upstream transfer guard member 452Ahas an upstream outboard portion 514A extending outward from the bridgeportion 482A thereof and the downstream transfer guard member 452B has adownstream outboard portion 514B extending outward from the bridgeportion 482B thereof. With respect to FIG. 26, the transfer surfaces ofeach of the transfer guard members 452A, 452B include a flat surfaceportion 518 of the bridge portion 482, a substantially flat surfaceportion 520 of the outboard portion 514, and a downwardly inclinedtapered surface portion 522 of the outboard portion 514 tapering towardthe outer edge 510. In this manner, the outboard portions 514A, 514Bextend into close proximity with the adjacent belts 456, 458 so the edge510A of the transfer guard member 452A is an upstream receiving edgeclosely adjacent the moving belt 456 and the edge 510B is a downstreamdischarge edge closely adjacent the moving belt 458, as shown in FIG.24A.

As best seen in FIGS. 24A and 26, the outboard portions 514 of thetransfer guard members 452A, 452B have a lower inclined surface 526 thattapers downstream away and down from the thin upstream edge 510 so as togenerally follow the belt 456, 458 as it travels down about thecorresponding pulley 476, 478. Debris that gets stuck may get caughtbetween the belt 456, 458 extending about the pulley 476, 478 and thelower inclined surface 526. Alternatively, the lower inclined surface526 could have other constructions, such as an arcuate configuration soas to even more closely follow the path of the belts 456, 458 about thepulleys 476, 478. So configured, the outboard portions 514 have agenerally wedge-shaped configuration. Naturally, other configurations ofthe outboard portions are possible, and may be adapted for spanning gapsbetween various different types and orientations of adjacent conveyingsurfaces.

With reference to FIGS. 27 and 28, the transfer guard system 450includes a pair of mounts 550 each having a front plate 566, which arediscussed in greater detail below, for installing the mounting bar 460in the gap 454 and the transfer guard members 452 includes an endtransfer guard member 452C that receives the mount 550 and maintains themount 550 within the profile of the transfer guard members 452. Withreference to FIG. 28, the end transfer guard member 452C has a narrowedbridge portion 482C with correspondingly narrowed legs 485B, 487B. Thenarrowed bridge portion 482C and legs 485B, 487B provide a third recess498C of the end transfer guard member 452C. The third recess 498Cprovides a lateral space 491 along the mounting bar 460 for the mount550 which permits the mounts 550 of the transfer guard system 450 togenerally be laterally positioned inward from the outer lateral sides472 of the outermost transfer guard members 452C, 452D. Because themounts 550 are positioned laterally inward from the outer lateral sides472 of the outermost transfer guard members 452C, 452D, the outerlateral sides 472 of the outermost transfer guard members 452C, 452D canbe butted up against or adjacent to skirts 491A (see FIG. 24) or otherstructures on opposite sides of the conveyor belts 456, 458 to minimizethe longitudinal gaps between the outer lateral sides of the conveyorbelts 456, 458 and the skirts 491A which could catch debris or conveyedgoods.

As shown in FIG. 27, the mount front plate 566 has a raised portion 567with an upper transfer surface 569 slightly below the flat surfaceportions 520 of the outermost transfer guard members 452C, 452D with thetransfer guard members 452C, 452D fixed to the mounting bar 460.Conveyed objects therefore have an uninterrupted travel path along theflat surface portions 520 and the upper transfer surface 569therebetween, which reduces catching of objects on the transfer guardsystem 450. Further, each mount 550 has fasteners, such as bolts 575,for releasably securing the front plate 566 to a rear plate 556 of themount 550. The recess 482C of the end transfer guard member 452C permitsthe bolts 575 to be readily accessed by a user to release the frontplates 566 from the rear plates 556 and remove the mounting bar 460,transfer guard members 452, and front plates 466 from the gap 455 suchas for replacing one of the transfer guard members 452.

Turning to FIG. 29, the outboard portions 514 of the transfer guardmembers 452 are configured to encourage deflection of outboard portion514 and avoid straight-on loading that could result in very littledeflection of the outboard portion 514 and cause the edge 510 to damagethe conveyor belt 456. The tapered surface portion 522 extendsdownwardly from the flat surface portion 520 and vertically offsets theedge 510 a distance 515 from an axis 517 extending along the flatsurface portion 520. By vertically offsetting the edge 510 below theaxis 517, the outboard portion 514 is more likely to bend downwardly inresponse to loading in direction 517A at the edge 510.

The process of one of the transfer guard members 452 contacting animperfection, such as a damaged splice 519, of the conveyor belt 456 andbeing snapped off of the mounting bar 460 is discussed in greater detailwith reference to FIGS. 29-32. Initially, the conveyor belt 456 ismoving in direction 521 and brings the damaged fastener 519 intoengagement with the edge 510 below the axis 530 as shown in FIG. 29. Thedamaged splice 519 continues to travel in direction 521 and begins tobend the outboard portion 514, as shown in FIG. 30. Continued bending ofthe outboard portion 514 causes the leg 487B to pull away from themounting bar 460 although the leg 485B remains firmly engaged with themounting bar 460, as shown in FIG. 31. The damaged splice 519 continuesto move in direction 521 and pull the edge 510 downwardly, furtherbending the outboard portion 514 until a distal end 523 of the leg 485Bdisengages from the mounting bar 460. The released transfer guard member452 may eject upward generally in direction 525 from the gap 454 or mayfall downward through the gap 454 clear of the conveyor belt 456 ratherthan the edge 510 becoming wedged against the conveyor belt 456.

The transfer guard member 452 is made of a material that is sufficientlystrong to resist loading from conveying surfaces and conveyed goodsduring normal operation. The transfer guard members 452 are alsosufficiently resilient to permit the legs 484, 486 to deflect apart tosnap onto the mounting bar 460 and snap off of the mounting bar 460 if asufficiently high force is applied at the edge 510 without damaging theconveyor belt 456.

The transfer guard member 452 may be made of, for example, a polymersuch as UHMW polyethylene or high-density polyethylene. The mounting bar460 may be made of a material sufficiently rigid to withstand loadingduring conveyor operations, such as polymer or a metal, such a steel,fiberglass, and carbon fiber. The transfer guard member 452 may beintegrally formed from a single material, or may be formed from separatecomponents. For example, the attachment and outboard portions 459, 514of the transfer guard member 452 may be made of separate materials andconnected together using welding or fasteners.

With reference to FIGS. 33-36, the transfer guard system 450 includesone or more mounts 550 as mentioned above that permit easierinstallation of the mounting bar 460 in constrained environments, suchas when the conveyor belts 456, 458 have skirts 552 with guide surfaces554 thereof extending longitudinally along opposite lateral sides of theconveyor belts 456, 458 to direct conveyed objects. These constrainedenvironments may be further limited by welds or structural members onouter surfaces of the skirts 552 that inhibit drilling through theskirts 552 to install the mounting bar 460. Further, the conveyor belts456, 458 may have conveyor structure positioned below the gap thatprevent access to the bottom of the gap 454. The mount 550 may be usedto easily and quickly install the mounting bar 460 in the gap 454despite these environment constraints.

The mount 550 includes a base portion, such as the rear plate 556, whichcan be fixed to the surface 554 such as by applying welds 558 atupstream and downstream sides 560 of the rear plate 556 and/or drivingone or more fasteners 562 through one or more holes 564 in the rearplate 556 and into the skirt 552, as shown in FIGS. 34 and 36. The mount550 also includes an end support portion, such as the front plate 566,for being connected to an end portion 568 of the mounting bar 460. Themount 550 has a height adjustment mechanism 570 for adjusting thevertical position of the mounting bar 460 in the gap 454 and alongitudinal adjustment mechanism 572 to adjust the longitudinalposition of the mounting bar 460 in the gap 454. These mechanisms 570,572 provide improved flexibility to customize the position of themounting bar 460 and transfer guard members 452 within the gap 454, asdiscussed in greater detail below. The mount 550 also has a lock device573 for securing the front plate 566 and mounting bar 460 supportedtherein to the rear plate 556 once the mounting bar 460 has beenpositioned in the desired location in the gap 454. In one form, the lockdevice 573 includes fasteners such as the bolts 575 that extend throughelongated openings 577 of the front plate 566 and engage threaded bores579 of the rear plate 556.

With reference to FIG. 35, the front plate 566 has an opening 574 sizedto receive the end portion 568 of the mounting bar 460, such as after auser has cut the mounting bar 460 to a desired length. The front plate566 has a collar portion 576 extending about the opening 574 thatcontacts the outer surfaces of the mounting bar 460 and resists loadingfrom the mounting bar 460 during operation of the conveyor belts 456,458. The front plate 556 has a lip portion 580 configured to extendlaterally over a seat 582 of the rear plate 556, as shown in FIGS. 34and 36. In one form, the lip portion 580 and seat 582 include flatsurfaces 584, 586 that face each other with the front plate 566positioned on or adjacent to the rear plate 556. Further, the rear plate556 has a recess 588 extending downwardly from the seat surface 586 thatprovides clearance for the mounting bar end portion 568 to be receivedtherein.

To install the mounting bar 460 in the gap 454, a user fits the opening574 of the front plate 566 onto the mounting bar end portion 568, asshown in FIG. 35. The height adjustment mechanism 572 may include aplurality of height adjustment members, such as shims 590. A user mayselect one or more shims 590 as desired to set the distance between thefront plate lip portion 580 and the rear plate seat 582 once the plates556, 566 have been connected together. To temporarily hold the shims 590to the front plate 566, one of the bolts 575 is advanced into a centerthrough opening 592 of the front plate 566 and threaded into apertures593 of the shims 590 aligned with the opening 592. The user may thenadvance the mounting bar 460, and front plate 566 and shims 590connected thereto, generally in direction 594 (see FIG. 34) to positionthe mounting bar end portion 568 in the recess 588 of the rear plate 556and seat the lowermost shim 590 against the seat surface 586 of the rearplate 556 (see FIG. 36).

Next, the user threads the second bolt 575 through one of the elongatedopenings 577 of the front plate 566, through corresponding elongatedopenings in the shims 590, and into the corresponding threaded bore 579of the rear plate 556. The user removes the first bolt 575 from thecenter opening 592 of the front plate 566 and apertures 593 of the shims590, then threads the first bolt 575 through the other of the elongatedopenings 577 of the front plate 566, through corresponding elongatedopenings in the shims 590, and into the corresponding threaded bore 579of the rear plate 566. In one form, the longitudinal position adjustmentmechanism 572 includes the elongated openings 577 in the front plate 566and corresponding elongated holes in the shims 590 which permit thefront plate 566 to be shifted in directions 596 after the mounting bar460 has been lowered into the gap 454. Once the desired verticalposition of the mounting bar 460 has been set using the desired numberof shims 590, and the desired longitudinal position of the mounting bar460 has been set by shifting the front plate 566 in directions 596, theuser may fully tighten the bolts 575 to fix the front plate 566 andmounting bar 460 to the rear plate 556 mounted to the skirt 552.

With reference to FIG. 36A, another transfer guard system 581 isprovided that can be easily installed in a confined environment. Thetransfer guard system 581 includes a plurality of transfer guard members583 (only one is shown for clarity) connected to a mounting bar 585. Thetransfer guard system 581 has a pair of mounts 587 for securing themounting bar 585 to a pair of skirts adjacent conveyor belts, forexample. In one form, the mount 587 includes an angle bar 587A having abase portion, e.g. section 587B, for being fixed to one of the skirtsand a support portion, e.g., section 587C, for supporting the mountingbar 585. The mounting bar 585 has an end portion 585A with a slot 585Bsized to receive the section 587C of the angle bar 587A. The slot 585Band angle bar section 587C cooperate to permit the mounting bar 585 tobe lowered into a gap where the angle bar 587A is mounted and slid ontothe angle bar 587A. The mounting bar end portion 585A has a hole 585Cthat aligns with an opening of the angle bar section 587C and permits afastener to extend through the hole 585C and opening of the angle barsection 587C to fix the mounting bar 585 to the angle bar 587A, such aswith a nut threaded onto an end of the fastener. The opening of theangle bar section 587C may be vertically elongated to permit verticaladjustment of the mounting bar 585.

With reference to FIGS. 37-42, another transfer guard system 600 isprovided for bridging a gap between conveying surfaces, such as a gap602 between conveyors 604, 606. The transfer guard system 600 is similarin many respects to the transfer guard system 450 discussed above suchthat differences between the two will be highlighted.

The transfer guard system 600 includes a mounting bar 608 extendinglaterally across the gap 602 and a pairs of longitudinally alignedtransfer guard members 610 releasably fixed to the mounting bar 608. Thetransfer guard members 610 each have a body 612 with an attachmentmember 614 and an outboard portion 616. The attachment member 614includes bridge portions 618, 620 and pairs of resilient legs 622, 624depending from the bridge portions 618, 620 for resiliently engaging themounting bar 608.

One difference between the transfer guard members 452, 610 is that thetransfer guard member 610 has a substantially flat upper surface 630including an outer surface portion 632 of the outboard portion 616, asshown in FIGS. 38 and 39. The outer surface portion 632 extends straightout to an outer edge 634, rather than having an inclined surface likethe tapered surface portion 522 of the transfer guard member 452.

With reference to FIG. 40, the transfer guard system 600 may havedifferently sized transfer guard members 610 detachably fixed to themounting bar 608. The transfer guard members may include a two-inchtransfer guard member 610A, a three-inch transfer guard member 610B, afive-inch transfer guard member 610C, and a pair of six-inch transferguard members 610D on an upstream side of the mounting bar 608 andthree-inch transfer guard members 610B on a downstream side of themounting bar 608.

With reference to FIG. 40, the transfer guard members 610 may beconnected to the mounting bar 608 in a number of different approaches.For example, the transfer guard members 610 may be positioned above themounting bar 608 to align openings 640 of the pairs of legs 622, 624with the mounting bar 608. The transfer guard member 610 is thenadvanced in direction 642 onto the mounting bar 608. The legs 622, 624have distal end portions with cam surfaces 644 that engage the mountingbar 608 and cause the legs 622, 624 to flex outwardly as the transferguard member 610 is advanced in direction 642, such as by hammering thetransfer guard member 610 onto the mounting bar 608. Once the transferguard member 610 has been seated on the mounting bar 608, the distalends of the legs 622, 624 resiliently engage a lower portion of themounting bar 608 and fix the transfer guard member 610 onto the mountingbar 608.

With reference to FIG. 38, the body 612 of transfer guard member 610includes protrusions 648, 650 that engage flat surface portions 652, 654of the adjacent transfer guard member 610 to create interference in amanner similar to the protrusions 500, 502 discussed above with respectto transfer guard member 452. In the event that one or more of the legs622, 624 of a transfer guard member, e.g., transfer guard member 610B(see FIG. 40), are damaged during installation on the mounting bar 608,which could make the transfer guard member 610B fit loosely on themounting bar 608, the interference caused by the protrusions 648, 650 onthe transfer guard member 610B and the aligned transfer guard member610D takes up the play between the transfer guard member 610B and themounting bar 608 and decreases the size of the seam 654 between thetransfer guard members 610B, 610D. It will be appreciated that theprotrusions 500, 502 may operate in a similar manner to take up play ofthe transfer guard members 452 in the event that one or more of the legs485A, 485B, 487A, 487B are damaged during installation.

In another approach for connecting the transfer guard members 610 to themounting bar 608, the transfer guard members 610 may be paired up andpositioned so that the pairs of legs 622, 624 of transfer guard members610 are interdigitated and the openings 640 formed by the legs 622, 624of the guard members 610 are aligned. The mounting bar 608 is then fitinto the openings 640 and the pair of transfer guard members 610 areslid along the mounting bar 608 into a desired location therealong.

With reference to FIG. 43, a transfer guard system 700 is provided thatis similar in many respects to the transfer guard systems discussedabove and may be readily installed in confined spaces. The transferguard system 700 is shown installed to transfer objects across a gap 702between conveying surfaces 704, 706. The conveying surfaces 704, 706 maybe, for example, surfaces of conveyor belts 708, 710 that travel aroundrollers 712, 714. The rollers 712, 714 may turn in direction 715 and theconveyor belts 708, 710 convey objects in a downstream, longitudinaltravel direction 720. In other approaches, the conveying surfaces 704,706 may be surfaces of roller conveyors, surfaces of chain conveyors,surfaces of a belt and a chute, surfaces of a belt and a slide, surfacesof a chute and a slide, or various combinations thereof as someexamples. The roller conveyors, chain conveyors, belt, and chute may bemade of plastic, metallic material(s), wood, etc. In another approach,the conveying surfaces 704, 706 may be portions of a single surface,such as if the transfer guard system 700 is used to bridge a gap in ahitch of a conveyor belt.

The transfer guard system 700 includes one or more transfer members,such as transfer guard members 716 each having an upper transfer surface830 along which objects may travel. The transfer guard members 716include aligned pairs of upstream and downstream transfer guard members716A, 716B. The transfer guard members 716A, 716B include interdigitatedattachment members 760, 762 (see FIG. 46) which form a non-linear seam764 (see FIG. 44) between the transfer guard members 716 in a mannersimilar to the transfer guard members 452. Other transfer members couldbe used, such as brush bristles or rollers instead of or in addition tothe transfer guard members 716. The transfer guard members 716 aredetachably connected to a mounting member 718 and may detach from themounting member 718 in response to significant loading in a mannersimilar to the transfer guard members discussed above (see, e.g., FIGS.29-32).

In FIG. 44, the conveyor belt 708 and roller 714 are hidden and skirts724, 726 are shown to illustrate the ability of the transfer guardsystem 700 to fit into the confined space defined by the conveyor belts708, 710 and skirts 724, 726. The conveyor belt 708 would likewise haveskirts 724, 726 extending along opposite sides thereof. The transferguard system 700 includes one or more mounts 730 for supporting themounting member 718 and transfer guard members 716 in the gap 702. Themounts 730 may be secured to one or more mounting surfaces 731, such asportions of the conveyor frame, using fasteners such as bolts 786 (seeFIG. 43).

To simplify the installation of the transfer guard system 700, themounting member 718 and of the mounts 730 have one or more snap-fitconnections 732 therebetween that permit the mounting member 718 to belowered in direction 734 into the gap 702 to connect the mounting member718 to the mounts 730. The snap-fit connections 732 permit the mountingmember 718 to be quickly and securely positioned in the gap 702 afterthe mounts 730 have been secured to the mounting surfaces 731. Inanother form, the mounting member 718 may be positioned below the gap702. For example, if the transfer members include long brush bristles,the bristles may extend in the gap 702 while the mounting member 718 ispositioned below the gap 702.

The mounts 730 may be installed on the mounting surfaces 731 from belowthe conveyor belts 708, 710 where there may be adequate working space,and then the mounting member 718 can be lowered into the gap 702 andsnap-fit with the mounts 730. This approach is particularly advantageouswhere the gap 702 is relatively narrow in the longitudinal direction720, such the gap 702 having a minimum distance thereacross in the rangeof 0.5 inches to 2 inches, and/or when the rollers 712, 714 have arelatively small diameter, such as 1.75 inches to 8 inches. The snap-fitconnections 732 make securing the mounting member 718 to the mount 730easier because the installer does not have to secure the mounting member718 to the mount 730 using, such as for example, fasteners or welds,which would be difficult to apply in the gap 702. Additionally, becausethe mounts 730 are secured to the mounting surfaces 731 below the gap702, the mounting member 718 can extend for all or almost all of thelateral distance between the skirts 724, 726.

With reference to FIG. 43, the mounting member 718 includes a pair ofarms 740, 742 defining a slot 744 therebetween that receives aprojection, such as upper plate portions 746 of the mounts 730, as themounting member 718 is advanced downwardly in direction 734. The slot744 has a longitudinal width 745 (see FIG. 48) sized to permit the upperplate portion 746 to enter the slot 744 without deflecting apart themounting member arms 740, 742, which allows an installer to lower themounting member 718 onto the upper plate portions 746 to engage themounting member 718 to the mounts 730 with minimal resistance. The upperplate portion 746 slides into the slot 744 as the mounting member 718 islowered onto the mounts 730. This forms a slip-fit connection betweenthe mounting member 718 and the mounts 730.

In one form, the snap-fit connection 732 includes at least one recess,such as channels 750, 752, of the arms 740, 742 and at least oneengagement portion, such as detents 754 of the mounts 730. The detents754 protrude outwardly a longitudinal distance 747 (see FIG. 49) fromeach side of the upper plate portion 746 so that the upper plate portion746 has a longitudinal width at the detents 754 that is larger than thelongitudinal width 745 of the slot 744 of the mounting member 718. Thedetents 754 deflect the arms 740, 742 apart as the mounting member 718is advanced downward onto the mounts 730. The channels 750, 752 define alongitudinally enlarged portion of the slot 744 which allows the arms740, 742 to resiliently snap back to their initial configuration oncethe channels 750, 752 receive the detents 754. The material of themounting member 718 and the geometry of the arms 740, 742 may beselected to provide resiliency to the arms 740, 742 so that the arms740, 742 can resiliently deflect over the detents 754 and snap back totheir initial configuration once the channels 750, 752 are horizontallyaligned with the detents 754. The mounting member 718 may be made of,for example, metallic, plastic, and/or composite materials. Examplesinclude aluminum, steel, and brass.

In one form, the securing of the mounting member 718 to the mounts 730is a two-step operation after the mounts 730 have been secured to themounting surfaces 731. First, the mounting member 718 is lowered intothe gap 702 so the upper plate portion 746 slides into the slot 744 andthe arms 740, 742 contact the detents 754. Next, the mounting member 718is urged farther downward in direction 734, such as by striking themounting member 718 with a mallet, to cammingly engage the arms 740, 742with the detents 754. This urging of the mounting member 718 farther indirection 734 causes the detents 754 to cam the arms 740, 742 apart andshift the mounting member 718 farther down along the upper plateportions 746. Once the channels 750, 752 align with the detents 754, thearms 740, 742 snap back to the initial configuration thereof. Theengagement of the detents 754 and the channels 750, 752 quickly andeasily secures the mounting member 718 to the mounts 730.

In another form, the securing of the mounting member 718 is a one-stepoperation wherein the mounting member 718 is lowered into the gap 702,the mounting member 718 is slid onto the upper plate portions 746, andthe mounting member 718 is urged downward to engage the detents 754 andchannels 750, 752 using a single continuous downward movement of themounting member 718 as an example. The detents 754 may have more of abarb-shape with longer camming surfaces so that the user can more easilymanually perform the lowering, engaging, and snap-fitting operations inone fluid movement.

Another advantage of the snap-fit connection 732 is that it permits themounting member 718 and the transfer guard members 716 thereon to beeasily detached from the mounts 730 for repair or replacement. Forexample and with reference to FIG. 43, the mounting member 718 may bedetached from the mounts 730 by applying force against the mountingmember 718 in direction 741 such as by using a mallet and an elongatedimpact tool to reach the lower end of the mounting member 718. Inresponse to the force in direction 741, the detents 754 cam apart thearms 740, 742 and disengage the detents 754 from the channels 750, 752.This quickly and easily releases the mounting member 718 and thetransfer guard members 716 from the mounts 330.

With reference to FIG. 44, the mounts 730 each include a supportportion, such as a support member 770, and a base portion, such as abracket 772. The support member 770 includes the upper plate portion 746at an upper end portion 771 thereof and is connected to the bracket at alower end portion 773 thereof. One or more of the mounts 730 may includea height adjustment mechanism 774 (see FIG. 43) that allows the verticalposition of the mounting member 718 to be adjusted. In one approach, theheight adjustment mechanism 774 includes a plurality of openings 776 ofthe support member 770 and openings 778 of the bracket 772. To adjustthe position of the plate portions 746 relative to the gap 702, thesupport members 770 are each moved up or down to align one pair of theopenings 776 with the openings 778 of the bracket 772. The heightadjustment mechanism 774 includes one or more securement members, suchas fasteners, for maintaining the relative positions of the supportmember 770 and bracket 772. The fasteners may include bolts 780 sized toextend through the aligned openings 776, 778 as well as nuts 782 andwashers 784. The bolts 780, nuts 782, and washers 784 are not shown inFIG. 44 to illustrate the alignment of the openings 776, 778.

In one form, the support member 770 is resilient and permits themounting member 718 to deflect slightly in upstream and downstreamdirections 711, 713 in response to impacts against the transfer guardmembers 716 or the mounting member 718 itself. The transfer guardmembers 716 may contact the conveyor belts 708, 710 to limit movementtransfer guard members 716 and mounting member 718. As an example andwith reference to FIG. 58, a splice 733 of the conveyor belt 708 hasimpacted the upstream transfer guard members 716A and the supportmembers 770 bend to permit the transfer guard members 716 and mountingmember 718 to deflect generally in direction 711 in the gap 702. Otherexamples of impacts that may cause the mounting member 718 to shift inthe gap 702 include small tears in the conveyor belts 708, 710 and heavypackages with rough surfaces traveling over the transfer guard members716.

The downstream transfer guard members 716B may contact the downstreamconveyor belt 710 to limit movement of the transfer guard members 716and mounting member 718 in direction 711. The downstream transfer guardmembers 716B may deflect against the downstream conveyor belt 710 toabsorb part of the impact in addition to the bending of the supportmembers 770.

The support members 770 then resiliently bias the mounting member 718back in the opposite direction 713 to return the mounting member 718 toan initial position in the gap 702 (see FIG. 43). For larger impacts,one or more of the transfer guard members 716 may detach from themounting member 718 as discussed above with respect to the othertransfer guard system embodiments. For example, a screw that has fallenonto the conveyor belt 708 may become wedged between the belt 708 andone of the upstream transfer guard members 716A. The transfer guardmember 716A detaches from the mounting member 718 and permits the screwto fall into the gap 702 rather than becoming caught and tearing theconveyor belt 708. As another example, a splice in one of the conveyorbelts 708, 710 may be missing loops such that the conveyor belt endsjoined by the splice start to separate as the splice travels over therollers 712, 714. One or more of the transfer guard members 716 maydetach from the mounting member 718 in response to the separatedconveyor belt ends striking the transfer guard members rather than beinga rigid construct that catches and further separates the belt ends.

The support member 770 may be made of a resilient material. As examples,the support member 770 may be made of spring steel, aluminum, brass,plastic, and/or composites. To contribute to the flexibility of thesupport member 770, the support member 770 may have a thickness 790 asshown in FIG. 45 that is significantly less than a height 792 and awidth 794 of the support member 770. In one form, the support member 770has a thickness 790 in the range of approximately 0.02 inches toapproximately 0.25 inches, such as 0.125 inches; a height 792 in therange of approximately 1.5 inches to approximately 18 inches, such as 8inches; and a width 794 in the range of approximately 0.5 inches toapproximately 60 inches, such as 2.5 inches. The width 794 may extendfor all or nearly all of the lateral width of the belts 708, 710, andthere may be only one support member 770.

With reference to FIG. 45, the detents 754 include a pair of detents754A, 754B extending outward from opposite sides of the resilientsupport member 770. The support member 770 has a downstream facingsurface 800 and the detent 754A extends outward from the downstreamfacing surface 800. The support member 770 has an upstream facingsurface 802 and the detent 754B extends outward from the upstream facingsurface 802. To provide the outwardly extending profile of the detents754A, 754B, the support member 770 may be deformed, such as by pressingmaterial outward, which leaves a recess 804 opposite the detents 754A,754B. In another form, the detents 754 include dowel pins fixed inopenings of the upper plate portions 746. The support member 770 mayhave a detent 754 on only one of the surfaces 800, 802 and the mountingmember 718 may have only one channel. Such a configuration may utilizeonly one arm of the mounting member 718 that deflects as the mountingmember 718 is snap-fit to the support members 770. In yet another form,the support member 770 has a detent 754 on only one of the surfaces 800,802 and the mounting member 718 has two arms each with a channel topermit the mounting member 718 to be attached to the support members 770in different orientations of the mounting member 718. Only one of thetwo arms may deflect as the mounting member 718 is snap-fit to thesupport members 770.

Turning to FIG. 46, the transfer guard member 716B has been detachedfrom the mounting member 718. The transfer guard member 716B includes abody 810 having an outboard portion 812 and a pair of attachment members760, 762. The transfer guard member 716B includes recesses 814, 816laterally disposed relative to the attachment members 760, 762. Therecesses 814, 816 receive the attachment members 760, 762 of theupstream transfer guard member 716A. This forms an interdigitatedpattern of the attachment members 760, 762 of the transfer guard member716A, 716B and the associated non-linear seam 764. By utilizing thenon-linear seam 764, the transfer guard system 700 lacks a long linearseam spanning across the lateral width of the transfer guard system 700that could snag small objects or collect debris. The attachment members760, 762 each include a pair of legs 820, 822 separated by a gap 824. Inone form, the transfer guard member 716B has a unitary, one piececonstruction and the legs 820, 822 can resiliently deflect toward andaway from each other.

The transfer guard member 716B includes an upper transfer surface 830that includes protrusions, such as bumps 832. The bumps 832 are roundedand may be elongated in the longitudinal direction 720. The bumps 832contact an object travelling across the transfer guard member 716B sothat the object contacts a smaller surface area of the transfer guardmember 716B. This reduces the dynamic friction between the transferguard member 716B and the object. Reducing the dynamic friction reducesthe frequency of objects getting slowed by the transfer surface whichcan adversely affect object flow and spacing throughout the entireconveyor system. Further, the bumps 832 may operate as wear indicatorsso that an operator can visually identify when the transfer guardmembers 716 need to be replaced when the bumps 832 appear worn down.

The bumps 832 may have a length 834, a width 836, and a maximum height838. The length 834 may be longer than the width 836. Additionally, oneor more of the length 834, the width 836, and height 838 of the bumps832 may vary along the upper transfer surface 830. For example, thebumps 832A of the outboard portion 812 may have a longer length 834 thanthe bumps 832B of the attachment member 760. The bumps 832A have alonger length 834 because the bumps 832A extend downward toward theoutboard edges of the transfer guard members 716 which presents a largersurface area of the bumps 832A to objects as the objects slide onto thetransfer guard members 716. The other transfer guard members 716 mayhave a similar or different pattern of the bumps 832 as the transferguard member 716B.

With reference to FIG. 47, the transfer guard member 716B includesfeatures to permit the transfer guard member 716B to be securelyattached to the mounting member 718. Although transfer guard member 716Bwill be discussed, the following discussion applies to the othertransfer guard members 716 as well. In one approach, the transfer guardmembers 716 are identical. In another approach, the transfer guardmembers 716 can have outboard portions 812 with different lengths. Forexample, the upstream transfer guard members 716A may have outboardportions 812 with a longitudinal length of 1.5 inches and the downstreamtransfer guard members 716B may have outboard portions 812 with alongitudinal length of three inches.

With reference to FIGS. 47 and 57, the body 710 of the transfer guardmember 716B includes pockets 840, 842 on either side of the legs 820,822 for receiving walls 844, 846 of the mounting member 718. The body810 also includes a brace member 850 having a surface 852 that restsagainst an outer surface 854 of the wall 846. The brace member 850 abutsthe outer surface 854 and resists deformation of the outboard portion812 in direction 856, such as by the weight of a heavy package againstthe outboard portion 812. The legs 820, 822 include feet 860 havinginclined surfaces 862 that deflect the legs 820, 822 together duringinstallation of the transfer guard member 716B, as discussed below. Thefeet 860 include stop surfaces 864 that snap below stop surfaces 866 ofthe walls 844, 846 once the feet 860 have reached an enlarged lowerportion 870 of the mounting member channel 721. Additionally, the legs820, 822 include notches 872 that engage edges 874 of the walls 844, 846to further secure the transfer guard member 716B in the channel 721.

With reference to FIGS. 47 and 54, the legs 820, 822 have an initial,undeflected configuration prior to being connected to the mountingmember 718. In this initial configuration, the legs 820, 822 have outersurfaces 981, 983 with a maximum distance 967 therebetween that isgreater than a distance 965 between surfaces 961, 963 of a narrowedupper portion 871 of the channel 721 (see FIG. 56). This larger distance967 causes the legs 820, 822 to be resiliently compressed when the legs820, 822 are engaged in the channel 721. Thus, when the legs 820, 822are engaged with the channel 721, the leg outer surfaces 981, 983 (seeFIG. 47) are urged against the surfaces 961, 963 (see FIG. 56) of themounting member channel 721. In this manner, the engagement of the feet860, the legs 820, 822, and the walls 844, 846 fix the transfer guardmember 716B to the mounting member 718. In response to a large forceagainst the outboard portion 812, the outboard portion 812 may tiltupwardly or downwardly and the transfer guard member 716B can detachfrom the mounting member 718 by the feet 860 disengaging from the walls844, 846 and the legs 820, 822 shifting together to exit the channel721. In another form, the large force may fracture the upper part of thebody 810 off of the legs 820, 820 which detaches the upper part of thebody 810 from the mounting member 718 while the legs 820, 822 remain inthe channel 721.

With reference to FIG. 48, the transfer guard member 716B is removedfrom the mounting member 718 to show the engagement of the legs 820, 822of the transfer guard member 716A in the channel 721 of the mountingmember 718. The mounting member 718 includes a head portion 900 thatincludes the walls 844, 846 and includes the generally T-shaped channel721. The channel 721 includes a narrow upper portion 902 through whichthe legs 820, 822 are deflected together to travel through and theenlarged lower portion 870 that receives the feet 860. The mountingmember 718 includes a reduced thickness neck portion 904 and atransverse portion 905 connecting the head portion 900 to the arms 740,742. The neck portion 904 separates the walls 844, 846 from the arms740, 742 and resists the walls 844, 846 collapsing together in responseto expanding the arms 740, 742 when the mounting member 718 is connectedto the support members 770. The neck portion 904 likewise resists thearms 740, 742 collapsing together in response to the transfer guardmember legs 820, 822 being advanced into the channel 721 between thewalls 844, 846.

In one approach, the mounting member 718 has a cross-sectionperpendicular to the length of the mounting member 718 that is uniformthroughout the mounting member 718. The mounting member 718 may bemanufactured by extruding material into the desired cross-section,machining, or 3D printing, as some examples. Because the mounting member718 has a uniform cross section throughout, the support members 770 ofthe mounts 730 may be connected to the mounting member 718 at anylateral position along the mounting member 718. This provides additionalflexibility for installing the mounting member 718 onto the supportmembers 770. Further, the uniform cross section allows the mountingmember 718 to be cut to length for a particular application and thenumber of transfer guard members 716 be selected to fill the cut lengthof the mounting member 718. For applications where the length of themounting member 718 is not a multiple of the lateral width of thetransfer guard members 716, the end pair of upstream and downstreamtransfer guard members 716A, 716B can be cut to provide the desiredlateral width of the transfer guard members 716 along the mountingmember 718. The transfer guard members 716 may have a unitary, one-piececonstruction and may be made of, for example, plastic materials such ashigh-density polyethylene. As other examples, plastics, urethanes,metal, and composites may be utilized for the transfer guard members716. The material of the transfer guard members 716 may be selected toprovide sufficient strength while permitting the transfer guard members716 to be cut to size as needed for a particular application, such asusing a saw.

With reference to FIGS. 49-57, a method of installing the transfer guardsystem 700 in the gap 702 will be described with respect to one of themounts 730, although a similar operation occurs at the other mount 730.In FIG. 49, the bracket 772 is secured to the mounting surface 731 by,for example, bolts 786. The support member 770 is positioned against thebracket 772 so that the upper plate portion 746 of the support member770 is positioned at the desired position in or adjacent the gap 702 toprovide the corresponding desired position of the mounting member 718once the transfer guard member 718 has been connected to the supportmember 770. The adjustment of the positon of the upper plate portion 746may be accomplished by moving the support members 770 in directions 910to align the appropriate openings 776 of the support member 770 with theopenings 778 of the brackets 772 (see FIG. 44). Once the upper plateportion 746 is at desired location, the bolts 780 are advanced throughthe openings 776, 778 and the nut 782 and washer 784 are connectedthereto to secure the support member 770 to the bracket 772. In anotherform, the support members 770 may be connected directly to the supportsurface 731 using, for example, fasteners or welds.

With reference to FIGS. 49 and 50, the mounting member 718 is loweredinto the gap in direction 734 and onto the upper plate portion 746 ofthe support member 770. The upper plate portion 746 advances into theslot 744 of the mounting member 718 as the mounting member 718 is slidonto and engaged with the upper plate portion 746. In one form, thedistance 752 between the arms 740, 742 is slightly larger the thickness790 of the upper plate portion 746 so that the mounting member 718 caneasily slide onto the upper plate portion 746 and be engaged therewith.The installer may lower the mounting member 718 into the gap 702 andonto the support members 770 by manually supporting an underside of themounting member 718 between the support members 770.

In another form, the distance 752 is the same or less than the thickness790 so that the arms 740, 742 deflect apart as the mounting member 718is slid onto the upper plate portions 746 and engaged therewith. Thearms 740, 742 include cam surfaces 920 that may engage edges 922 of theupper plate portions 746 and urge the arms 740, 742 apart. The mountingmember 718 may be advanced downward in direction 734 by an installerpressing on an upper surface 926 of the mounting member 718 or impactingthe upper surface 926 of the mounting member 718 with a mallet.

With reference to FIG. 51, the mounting member 718 has been advanced indirection 734 so that a lower end portion 931 of the mounting member 718contacts the detents 754A, 754B. The arms 740, 742 have inner surfaces933, 935 abutting the surfaces 800, 802 of the support member 770. Themounting member 718 is slidably coupled to the support member 770 withthe weight of the support member 718 being supported by the detents754A, 754B. The installer may stop downward movement of the mountingmember 718, and leave the mounting member 718 resting on the supportmembers 770 as the installer reaches for a mallet to drive the mountingmember 718 to its fully seated position (see FIG. 53).

With the mounting member lower end portion 931 resting on the detents754A, 754B as shown in FIG. 51, the mounting member 718 may be slidlaterally relative to the upper plate portion 746 to adjust the lateralposition of the mounting member 718 in the gap 702 if there issufficient space between the skirts 724, 726. In other approaches, thelateral ends of the mounting member 718 abut or are sufficiently closeto the skirts 724, 726 to restrict lateral sliding movement of themounting member 718 relative to the upper plate portion 746.

The mounting member 718 is sitting proud on the support member 770 inFIG. 51. There is a gap 941 between a lower surface 943 of thetransverse portion 905 of the mounting member 718 and an upper surface945 of the upper plate portion 746. The proud location of the mountingmember 718 positions the upper surface 926 above or at an upper end ofthe gap 702. In this manner, a user may push against the upper surface926 with the installer's hand(s) or foot or strike the upper surface 926with a mallet to urge the mounting member 718 in direction 734 downwardfrom the proud position.

With reference to FIG. 52, the installer has advanced the mountingmember 718 farther downward in direction 734. The cam surfaces 920 ofthe arms 740, 742 are engaging and riding along outer surfaces 951 ofthe detents 754A, 754B. This engagement urges the arms 740, 742 apart indirections 924, 926 away from the surfaces 800, 802 of the supportmember 770.

Once the installer has advanced the mounting member 718 sufficiently farin direction 734, the channels 750, 752 are horizontally aligned withthe detents 754A, 754B as shown in FIG. 53. The clearance provided bythe channels 750, 752 permits the arms 740, 742 to resiliently returntogether in directions 930, 932 which engages the detents 754A, 754B inthe channels 750, 752. The engagement between the detents 754A, 754B andthe channels 750, 752 resists removal of the mounting member 718 fromthe support member 770. Further, the arms 740, 742 abut the supportmember surfaces 800, 802 to constrain the mounting member 718 on thesupport members 770. In one form, the mounting member 718 and supportmember 770 are configured so that the mounting member lower surface 943seats against support member upper surface 945 when the detents 754A,75B are received in channels 750, 752. The snug engagement of the upperplate portion 746 and the slot 744 provides a secure connection betweenthe mounting member 718 and the support member 770 and permits themounting member 718 to transfer loading from conveyor operations to thesupport member 770.

FIGS. 54-57 show the process of connecting transfer guard member 716B tothe mounting member 718 after the mounting member 718 has been securedto the support member 716. The process is repeated for the remainingtransfer guard members. In another approach, the transfer guard members716 may be connected to the mounting member 718, and then the mountingmember 718 with transfer guard members 716 connected thereto may belowered into the gap 702 and snap-fit to the support members 770.

With reference to FIG. 54, the transfer guard member 716 is positionedabove the mounting member 718 so that the legs 820, 822 are verticallyaligned with the channel 721 of the mounting member 718. The transferguard member 716B is then advanced in direction 734 downwardly into thechannel 721.

With reference to FIGS. 55 and 56, the transfer guard member 716 isadvanced farther in direction 734 so that the inclined surfaces 862 ofthe transfer guard member feet 860 contact edges 940, 942 of the walls844, 846. The camming engagement between the feet inclined surfaces 862and the edges 940, 942 urges the legs 820, 822 together in directions944, 946. The legs 820, 822 resiliently deflect together and the feet860 fit into the narrowed upper portion 871 of the channel 721. The feet860 slide along the opposed surfaces 961, 963 of the channel upperportion 871 as shown in FIG. 56.

With reference to FIG. 57, the transfer guard member 716 has beenadvanced sufficiently far in direction 734 that the feet 860 havereached the enlarged lower portion 870 of the channel 721. The legs 820,822 resiliently return apart in directions 950, 952 and position thefeet stop surfaces 864 below the wall stop surfaces 866. The legs 820,822 are thereby detachably engaged with the walls 844, 846 in thechannel 721. The process of installing the transfer guard member 716B tothe mounting member 718 is repeated with the remaining transfer guardmembers 716. The transfer guard system 700 is thereby ready to transferobjects across the gap. Further, the support members 770 permit themounting member 718 to resiliently shift in directions 950, 952 in thegap 702 to accommodate loading during conveyor operations.

The transfer guard system 700 may be installed using a number ofdifferent techniques. As a first example and with reference to FIGS. 44and 48, the mounting member 718 may first be connected to the supportmembers 770 by positioning the support members 770 laterally relative tothe mounting member 718, the detents 754 aligned with the channels 750,752, and the plate portions 746 slid into the slot 744 in direction 749.This forms a slide-fit connection between the mounting member 718 andthe support members 770 without having to cam apart the arms 740, 742using the detents 754 as discussed above. The detents 754 slide into andengage the channels 750, 752 thereby connecting the mounting member 718to the support members 770. This procedure can be done in the area belowthe conveyor belts 708, 710.

With the mounting member 718 connected to the support members 770, theinstaller(s) may lift the mounting member 718/support member 770assembly upward so the mounting member 718 travels upward into the gap702 until the mounting member 770 is at the desired vertical height inthe gap 702. The transfer guard members 716 may be advanced downwardlyfrom above the gap 702 and connected to the mounting member 718. Thebrackets 772 are positioned on the support surfaces 731 near the supportmembers 770 and the installer(s) can mark with a marker the position ofthe brackets 772 on the support surface 731 which provides the desiredlongitudinal positioning of the mounting member 718 in the gap 702. Theinstaller(s) can also move the support members 770 up/down to align thesupport member openings 776 with the bracket openings 778 and mark theposition of the support members 770 to indicate the desired verticalpositioning of the mounting member 718 in the gap 702. The mountingmember 718/support members 770 assembly may be moved out of the way, thebrackets 772 secured to the mounting surfaces 731 such as by using weldsor bolts 786, and the mounting member 718/support member 770 assemblyconnected to the brackets 772. In this example, the mounting member 718is advanced upwardly into the gap 702 from below the conveyor belts 708,710 and the transfer guard members 716 are advanced downwardly into thegap 702 to connect to the mounting member 718.

As another example of installing the transfer guard system 700, thetransfer guard members 716 may be connected to the mounting member 718and the transfer guard member 716/mounting member 718 assembly loweredinto the gap 702 so that the transfer guard members 716 rest on theconveyor belts 708, 710. The support members 770 are advanced from belowthe conveyor belts 708, 710 upward into the gap 702 and slid upward intothe slot 744 of the mounting member 718. The installer(s) then orientthe support members 770 and brackets 772 so that the mounting member718, when seated on the mounting members 770, positions the associatedtransfer guard members 716 at the desired the fore/aft and verticalpositions.

Turning to FIGS. 59-61, a transfer guard system 1000 is provided that issimilar in many respects to the transfer guard system 700 discussedabove. The transfer guard system 1000 includes transfer guard members1002 detachably fixed to a mounting member 1004. The transfer guardsystem 1000 includes one or more mounts 1006 as shown in FIG. 58. Eachmount 1006 includes a support member 1008 and a bracket 1010. Thesupport members 1008 can be connected to the mounting member 1004 in alateral orientation as shown in FIG. 59 wherein the length of thesupport members 1008 extends parallel to the length of the mountingmember 1004. The support member 1008 can also be attached to themounting member 1004 in a vertical orientation as shown in FIG. 60wherein the support member 1008 extends transverse, such asperpendicular, to the length of the mounting member 1004. The ability ofthe mounts 1006 to be connected to the mounting member 1004 in differentconfigurations provides additional flexibility in installing thetransfer guard system 1000 in a gap between conveying surfaces.

In this manner, the transfer guard system 1000 may be installed with thesupport members 1008 in the lateral orientation (see FIG. 59) or thevertical orientation (FIG. 60) depending on the surrounding environment.For example, the lateral orientation may be desirable if the brackets1010 are mounting to a support surface laterally outward from the gapbetween the conveying surfaces. As another example, the verticalorientation may be utilized if the support surface is below the gap andthere are environmental structures, such as the skirts 724, 726 near thelateral ends 1040, 1042 of the mounting member 1004. By utilizing thevertical orientation of the support members 1008, the support members1008 and the brackets 1010 are positioned out of the way of the mountingmember 1004 and do not take up lateral space between the skirts 724,726. This allows the mounting member 1004 to extend the full lateraldistance between the skirt 724, 726 and the transfer guard members 1002to bridge the gap for the full lateral distance between the skirts 724,726.

With reference to FIG. 61, each support member 1008 includes a pair ofdetents 1012 that extend outward from opposite sides of the supportmember 1008 and are oriented to extend parallel to the length of thesupport member 1008. The detents 1012 engage channels 1014 of arms 1016,1018 of the mounting member 1004 and permit the mounting member 1004 tobe connected to the support members 1008 when the support members 1008are in the lateral orientations thereof. Like the mounting member 718discussed above, the mounting member 1004 may be advanced downward indirection 1022 onto the support members 1008 to snap-fit the mountingmember 1004 to the support members 1008 in the lateral orientation. Thedetents 1012 engage cam surfaces 1020 of the arms 1016, 1018 and spreadthe arms 1016, 1018 apart as the mounting member 1004 is advanceddownward in direction 1022 onto the support members 1008. The arms 1016,1018 resiliently return back toward each other once the channels 1014receive the detents 1012.

In another form, slide-fit connections between the support members 1008and the mounting member 1004 may be formed by sliding each of thesupport members 1008 in a lateral direction into the slot between thearms 1016, 1018 so that the detents slide into the channels 1014. Thisapproach forms the slide-fit connections without the installer having touse the detents 1012 to spread the arms 1016, 1018 apart. The installermay then connect the mounting member 1004/support members 1008 assemblyto the brackets 1010, which may include advancing the mounting member1004 upwardly into a gap to the desired position thereof before securingthe support members 1008 to the brackets 1010.

Each support member 1008 also includes a pair of detents 1030 extendingoutwardly from opposite sides of the support member 1008. The detents1030 are similar in shape and operation to the detents 754 discussedabove. The detents 1030 are oriented to extend transverse to the lengthof the support members 1008. The detents 1030 allow the installer toadvance the mounting member 1004 downward in direction 1022 onto thesupport members 1008 when the support members 1008 are in the verticalorientation to form a snap-fit connection between the mounting member1004 and the support member 1008 in a manner similar to the methoddiscussed above with respect to FIGS. 49-53. Alternatively, the supportmembers 1008 may be slid in lateral directions (like direction 749, seeFIG. 48) into the slot between arms 1016, 1018 so that the detents 1030slide into and engage the channels 1020 without deflecting the arms1016, 108. The transfer guard members 1002 are connected to the mountingmember 1004 before or after the mounting member 1004 has been fit ontothe support members 1008.

With reference to FIGS. 62 and 63, another transfer guard system 1100 isprovided for transferring objects across a gap between conveyingsurfaces and is similar in many respects to the transfer guard system700 discussed above. The transfer guard system 1100 includes transferguard members 1102 and a mounting member 1104. One difference betweenthe transfer guard systems 700, 1100 is that the transfer guard system1100 includes a removable locking member, such as a pin 1106, for fixingthe transfer guard members 1102 to the mounting member 1104. With thelocking pin 1106 fixing the transfer guard members 1102 to the mountingmember 1104, the transfer guard members 1102 may not detach from themounting member 1104 in response to impacts or large forces appliedagainst the transfer guard members 1102. As discussed in greater detailbelow, the transfer guard members 1102 are connected to the mountingmember 1104 and the locking pin 1106 is slid in direction 1108 betweenlegs 1110 of the transfer guard members 1102. With reference to FIG. 63,the presence of the locking pin 1106 between the legs 1110 keeps thelegs 1110 from shifting towards each other in directions 1112, 1113 anddisengaging from the mounting member 1104. This fixes the transfer guardmember 1102 to the mounting member 1104

Turning to FIG. 64, the transfer guard member legs 1110 include feet1140 having features that make it easier to correctly connect thetransfer guard members 1102 to the mounting member 1104 and providespace to accommodate the locking pin 1106 between the legs 1110. Thefeet 1140 include lead-in portions 1120 having an outer distance 1122that is smaller than a distance 1124 between walls 1134 of the mountingmember 1104. The walls 1134 define a channel 1128 of the mounting member1104 including a narrowed upper portion 1126 and an enlarged lowerportion 1142. The smaller outer distance 1122 permits the installer toeasily align the lead-in portions 1120 with the channel 1128 and advancethe lead-in portions 1120 into the channel 1128. Once the lead-inportions 1120 enter into the channel 1128, the lead-in portions 1120have outward facing flat surfaces 1130 that slide against inward facingflat surfaces 1132 of the mounting member walls 1134. The confrontingsurfaces 1130, 1132 of the legs 1110 and the mounting member walls 1134resist tilting of the transfer guard member 1102 and keep the transferguard member 1102 in a generally vertical orientation (see FIG. 64) asthe legs 1110 travel into the channel 1128. Keeping the transfer guardmember 1102 in the straight or generally vertical orientation ensuresboth of the feet 1140 reach the enlarged portion 1142 of the channel1128 and can shift apart to engage the stop surfaces 1160 of the walls1134.

The feet 1140 also have cam surfaces 1148 configured to engage uppersurfaces 1150 of the walls 1134 of the mounting member 1104 as the legs1110 are advanced in direction 1136 into the channel 1128. This urgesthe feet 1140 together in directions 1152, 1153 and deflects the legs1110. The legs 1110 resiliently return to their undeformed ornearly-undeformed positions once the feet 1140 reach the enlarged lowerportion 1142 of the channel 1128.

With reference to FIG. 65, the transfer guard member 1102 has beenadvanced in direction 1136 until the feet 1140 have reached the enlargedlower portion 1142 of the channel 1128. The feet 1140 have shifted apartand engage stop surfaces 1160 of the walls 1134. The transfer guardmember 1102 is now detachably secured to the mounting member 1104. Thetransfer guard system 1100 may be utilized without the locking pin 1106if it is desirable for the transfer guard members 1102 to detach, suchas in response to impacts, as discussed above with respect to transferguard system 700.

The feet 1140 of the legs 110 include recesses 1162 that arecomplimentary to the outer profile of the locking pin 1106. For example,the locking pin 1106 may have a circular cross section and the recesses1162 are concave with a matching curvature. The mounting member 1104 hasa groove 1166 that locates the locking pin 1106 in the channel 1128. Therecesses 1162 and the groove 1166 form a pin-receiving cavity 1164associated with each of the transfer guard members 1102.

With reference to FIG. 66, the other transfer guard members 1102 havebeen connected to the mounting member 1104. The pin-receiving cavities1164 of all of the transfer guard members 1102 are aligned. The lockingpin 1106 may be readily slid into the pin-receiving cavity 1164 (seedirection 1108 in FIG. 62) to lock the legs 1110 to the mounting member1104.

With reference to FIG. 67, another transfer guard system 1200 isprovided that is similar in many respects to transfer guard system 1100discussed above. The transfer guard system 1200 includes transfer guardmembers 1202, a mounting member 1204, and a retention member such as alocking pin 1206 for fixing the transfer guard members 1202 to themounting member 1204. The transfer guard system 1200 includes locks 1206at opposite ends of the mounting member 1204 that limit the locking pin1206 from shifting in directions 1210, 1212 out from between legs 1232of the transfer guard members 1202. In other words, the locks 1206maintain the lateral position of the locking pin 1206 relative to themounting member 1204.

With reference to FIGS. 68 and 69, the locks 1206 each include a setscrew 1220 and a base 1224. The base 1124 has a threaded throughbore1125 and the set screw 1220 threadingly engages the throughbore 1125.The base 1224 is sized to fit within a channel 1226 of the mountingmember 1204. The locks 1206 are used to secure the locking pin 1206 asfollows. First, the transfer guard members 1202 are connected to themounting member 1204. The locking pin 1206 is then advanced in thelateral direction 1210 into pin-receiving cavities 1230 formed betweenthe legs 1232 of the transfer guard members 1202. Next, the locks 1206are slid in directions 1210, 1212 into the channel 1226 until the bases1124 are positioned against or in proximity to ends of the locking pin1206.

Once the locks 1206 are in the channel 1226, the set screws 1220 aretightened down so that a distal end of the set screw 1220 extendsdownward from the base 1224 and engages a lower channel surface 1234 ofthe mounting member 1204. Continued tightening of the set screw 1220urges the base 1224 upward in direction 1236 and engages the base 1224with the stop surfaces 1237 of walls 1238 of the mounting member 1204.This secures the locks 1206 in position along the channel 1226 and thebases 1224 of the locks 1206 resist movement of the locking pin 1206 indirections 1210, 1212. As shown in FIG. 68, the base 1224 blocks thelocking pin 1206 from sliding into the page (direction 1210 in FIG. 67)and out of the pin-receiving cavity 1230.

With reference to FIG. 68, the transfer guard system 1200 also includesa lock, such as a bolt 1240, for fixing the mounting member 1204 to asupport 1242 of the transfer guard system 1200. More specifically, themounting member 1204 has arms 1250 with channels 1252 that receivedetents 1254 of the support 1242. The support 1242 has a threaded hole1256 proximate the detents 1254. The bolt 1240 has a shank 1258 thatthreadingly engages with the threaded hole 1256. The bolt 1240 may betightened down so that a flange 1258 of the bolt 1240 presses againstone of the arms 1250. Tightening the bolt 1240 causes the flange 1258 tourge the arm 1250 against the support 1242. With the arm 1250 heldagainst the support 1242 by the bolt 1240, the bolt 1240 resists the arm1250 from being urged away from the support 1242 and releasing theassociated detent 1254 from the channel 1252 of the arm 1250. Further,the frictional engagement between the bolt flange 1258 and the mountingmember arm 1250 resists sliding of the mounting member 1204 relative tothe support 1242 in direction 1210, 1212 and keeps the detents 1254within the channels 1252. In this manner, the bolt 1240 fixes themounting member 1204 to the support 1242.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety ofmodifications, alterations, and combinations can be made with respect tothe above-described embodiments without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention, and that such modifications, alterations, andcombinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the inventiveconcept.

1. A transfer guard member comprising: a unitary, one-piece body forbeing positioned in a gap longitudinally between conveying surfaces; apair of lower resilient legs of the body adapted to be directlydetachably fixed to a mounting member; an upper transfer surface of thebody; and a plurality of protrusions of the upper transfer surfacearranged to contact an object being transferred across the uppertransfer surface.
 2. The transfer guard member of claim 1 wherein theupper transfer surface includes an outer periphery and portions ofprotrusions at or adjacent to the outer periphery that form protrusionswith portions of protrusions of other transfer guard members when thetransfer guard members are fixed to the mounting member.
 3. The transferguard member of claim 1 wherein the upper transfer surface includes anupper planar surface portion and a downwardly inclined tapered surfaceportion and the protrusions include protrusions upstanding from thedownwardly inclined tapered surface portion having a maximum heightgreater than protrusions upstanding from the upper planar surfaceportion.
 4. The transfer guard member of claim 1 wherein the protrusionsare longitudinally elongated.
 5. The transfer guard member of claim 1wherein the protrusions each have a longitudinal length and a lateralwidth and at least one of the longitudinal length and the lateral widthof the protrusions varies along the upper transfer surface.
 6. Thetransfer guard member of claim 1 wherein the protrusions each have amaximum height and the maximum height of the protrusions varies alongthe upper surface.
 7. The transfer guard member of claim 1 wherein thebody includes a pair of pockets that receive walls of a mounting memberwith the legs being intermediate the pockets.
 8. The transfer guardmember of claim 1 wherein the body is made of ultra-high molecularweight polyethylene material and the protrusions wear down withtransferring of objects across the upper surface so that an operator canvisually identify when the transfer guard member needs to be replaced.9. The transfer guard member of claim 1 wherein the body includes anoutboard portion extending longitudinally of the legs and a brace memberdepending from the outboard portion to contact the mounting member andresist deflection of the outboard portion.
 10. A transfer guard systemfor transferring objects across a gap intermediate two conveyingsurfaces, the transfer guard system comprising: a mounting member; achannel of the mounting member; a plurality of transfer guard membershaving upper transfer surfaces for transferring objects in alongitudinal, downstream direction between the two conveying surfaces;lower legs of the transfer guard members configured to fit in thechannel and detachably mount the transfer guard members to the mountingmember.
 11. The transfer guard system of claim 10 wherein the mountingmember includes a pair of spaced walls defining an upper portion of thechannel and the transfer guard members include pockets configured toreceive the walls of the mounting member.
 12. The transfer guard systemof claim 10 wherein the mounting member includes outer upstream anddownstream surfaces and the transfer guard members each include a bracemember spaced from the lower legs of the transfer guard member andconfigured to contact one of the outer upstream and downstream surfacesof the mounting member.
 13. The transfer guard system of claim 10wherein the mounting member has a length in a lateral directionperpendicular to the longitudinal downstream direction and a crosssection taken in the longitudinal downstream direction that is uniformthroughout the length of the mounting member.
 14. The transfer guardsystem of claim 10 wherein the channel includes a narrow upper portionand an enlarged lower portion and the legs of the transfer guard membersinclude feet configured to engage the enlarged lower portion of thechannel.
 15. The transfer guard system of claim 10 further comprising aretention member configured to be positioned between the legs in thechannel to resist disengagement of the legs from the mounting member.16. The transfer guard system of claim 15 further comprising a locksized to fit at least partially in the channel and resist movement ofthe retention member out of the channel.
 17. The transfer guard systemof claim 10 further comprising at least one mount configured to form aslide connection with the mounting member.
 18. The transfer guard systemof claim 17 wherein the mount includes a lock configured to fix themounting member to the at least one mount.
 19. The transfer guard systemof claim 10 further comprising at least one mount adapted to support themounting member in the gap and the at least one mount includes aresilient portion configured to permit the mounting member toresiliently shift longitudinally in the gap.
 20. The transfer guardsystem of claim 10 wherein the transfer guard members each have aunitary, one-piece construction. 21-38. (canceled)